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

Bard Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,922 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 76,260 shares during the period. Apple makes up 13.3% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $112,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.4% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 3,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 56,230 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,101,000 after buying an additional 940 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $2,013,000. Unigestion Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 358.2% during the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 200,231 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,652,000 after buying an additional 156,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 24,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,824,000 after buying an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $244.60 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $240.67 and its 200-day moving average is $231.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased 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. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.