Essential Planning LLC. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Essential Planning LLC. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,024 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 381 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.8% of Essential Planning LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Essential Planning LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory increased its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.69. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple 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 value 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 trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

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.