Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,930,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,964 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.5% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $449,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its position in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.79. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.