Novare Capital Management LLC Sells 834 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Novare Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 174,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 834 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.7% of Novare Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $43,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after buying an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $212.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 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.