Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,171 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.2% of Balboa Wealth Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Apple were worth $16,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $242.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $239.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Profile

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.