Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Trimmed by Wealth Group Ltd.

Wealth Group Ltd. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 415 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.2% of Wealth Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Wealth Group Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $234.40 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $240.43 and its 200-day moving average is $230.36. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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 0.43%. 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, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target 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 given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple 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.