Sterneck Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sterneck Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,882 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 716 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 12.3% of Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Maxim Group raised their price objective 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, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $244.47 on Wednesday. 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 $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.66 and its 200 day moving average is $231.94. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.