Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Physicians Financial Services Inc.

Physicians Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,429 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,638 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 15.8% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $50,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its position in 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. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % 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 corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.40 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $240.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Apple Company 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.