Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Sells 5,767 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,767 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 3.5% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Carrera Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Apple by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 10,367 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,415,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,160,676 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,600,438,000 after acquiring an additional 133,736 shares in the last quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. raised its position in Apple by 2.2% during the third quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 4,822 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 21.2% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 747,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $174,136,000 after purchasing an additional 130,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 16.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 11,521 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 yield of 0.43%. 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.