Wiser Wealth Management Inc Buys 646 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wiser Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,333 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.6% of Wiser Wealth Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Wiser Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $228.28 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $227.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target 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. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

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.