Helen Stephens Group LLC Sells 893 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Helen Stephens Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.9% of Helen Stephens Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Helen Stephens Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $238.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $239.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, 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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.