Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,484 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.7% of Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $244.60 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $240.70 and its 200 day moving average is $231.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Loop Capital cut 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. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $945,233.10. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.