Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Has $27.53 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,158 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 571 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 9.1% of Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $237.41 and a 200 day moving average of $227.89. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.