O Brien Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

O Brien Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,391 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.7% of O Brien Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $258.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $235.45 and its 200 day moving average is $226.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $258.21.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.