Helen Stephens Group LLC Has $2.92 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Helen Stephens Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,536 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,877 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.9% of Helen Stephens Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Helen Stephens Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 24,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,726,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.8% during the third quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 27,661 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 8.1% during the third quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 583,413 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $135,935,000 after purchasing an additional 14,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of Kansas raised its position in Apple by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 42,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,979,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.