ESL Trust Services LLC Sells 256 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ESL Trust Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.1% of ESL Trust Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. ESL Trust Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 52,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,057,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 47,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,940,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Family Investment Center Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Family Investment Center Inc. now owns 9,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,630,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents 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 shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.57. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.