Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Laurel Wealth Planning LLC

Laurel Wealth Planning LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,681 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $243.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $238.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.