Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,531 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.6% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its position in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 83,965 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Cfra lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

AAPL opened at $229.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.14. The company has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

About Apple

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.