Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 844 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value 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. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $242.70 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $239.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.75. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.