Private Wealth Management Group LLC Sells 351 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Private Wealth Management Group LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,576 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Private Wealth Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Private Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.03.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.