Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Retirement Financial Solutions LLC

Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,160 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.5% of Retirement Financial Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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. 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 owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $239.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.