Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Gentry Private Wealth LLC

Gentry Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.8% of Gentry Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Gentry Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $236.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.