Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC Sells 227 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,976 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.4% of Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its position in Apple by 7.4% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 482,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $112,402,000 after purchasing an additional 33,187 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Wealth Forward LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Forward LLC now owns 12,583 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,932,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 185,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $43,255,000 after buying an additional 25,001 shares during the period. Finally, Whelan Financial boosted its stake in Apple by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 21,545 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,020,000 after buying an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $243.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % 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, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

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.