Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 282,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,571 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.3% of Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $70,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $220.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $236.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.12.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.