Sara Bay Financial Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sara Bay Financial trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,419 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,318 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.0% of Sara Bay Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $229.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $227.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.