Beacon Wealthcare LLC Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beacon Wealthcare LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,046 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.5% of Beacon Wealthcare LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Beacon Wealthcare LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 23,725 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 125,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,435,000 after acquiring an additional 54,297 shares in the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $8,259,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 230,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $57,777,000 after acquiring an additional 30,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 29,563 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $244.60 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $240.70 and its 200 day moving average is $231.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.