Private Wealth Partners LLC Sells 71,554 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Private Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 528,548 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 71,554 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 9.8% of Private Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $123,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC now owns 92,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,408,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in Apple by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 59,684 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,571,000 after buying an additional 9,679 shares during the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 10.6% during the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,985,000 after buying an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.4% in the second quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 9,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $243.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $238.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.08. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.03.

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.