Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Hamel Associates Inc.

Hamel Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 79,210 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 757 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.6% of Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,202,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,306,455,000 after buying an additional 48,719 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in Apple by 3.1% during the second quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 124,883 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,303,000 after acquiring an additional 3,727 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 28,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2,181.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 63,826 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,443,000 after purchasing an additional 61,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $241.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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 represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. 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.