Rench Wealth Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rench Wealth Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 887 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.4% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.63 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $241.26 and its 200 day moving average is $231.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.