Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Circle Wealth Management LLC’s Largest Position

Circle Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,638,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 635,655 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 34.2% of Circle Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Circle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,546,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $3,331,000. Adero Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 125,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,345,000 after purchasing an additional 33,602 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC grew its stake in Apple by 304.3% during the second quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 29,120 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 21,917 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 17.1% in the second quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 28,652 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,035,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Apple stock opened at $233.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $241.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.96. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade 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 insiders.

About Apple

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.