Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 489,842 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 24,873 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.1% of Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $114,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Baugh & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 70,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $5,721,000. Wealth Architects LLC increased its stake in Apple by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 182,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,453,000 after buying an additional 12,052 shares during the period. Prudent Investors Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Prudent Investors Network Inc. now owns 8,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,044,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its position in Apple by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 292,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $68,235,000 after buying an additional 87,242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $240.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

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.