BNC Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BNC Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,063 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 7.4% of BNC Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. BNC Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position 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 valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $235.74 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $238.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.