Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,269 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.2% of Vicus Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $248.05 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $254.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

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.