Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC Sells 399 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 399 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.6% of Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $240.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.95. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 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.