Lodestone Wealth Management LLC Sells 969 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lodestone Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,296 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 969 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its position in Apple by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $243.36 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $238.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.03.

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.