PFS Partners LLC Sells 255 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PFS Partners LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,590 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.9% of PFS Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. PFS Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rather & Kittrell Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 14,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 248,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $58,014,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393 shares during the period. Wealth Quarterback LLC lifted its position in Apple by 6.1% during the third quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 34,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,561,493 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $596,828,000 after acquiring an additional 292,651 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.52. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.