White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. Sells 3,572 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,481 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,572 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.3% of White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. New Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the second quarter. New Perspectives Inc now owns 12,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 38,077 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,020,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 55,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,627,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 12,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,662,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $240.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. 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 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. 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 the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This 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.

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.