Lavaca Capital LLC Has $9.04 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lavaca Capital LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,603 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.8% of Lavaca Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Lavaca Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Lowery Thomas LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Apple stock opened at $227.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.