Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,244,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.6% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $289,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush upped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.99.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $223.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $241.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.82. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.