Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 692 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.2% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $67,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.81.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Apple

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.