Beta Wealth Group Inc. Has $4.84 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beta Wealth Group Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,086 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.2% of Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $233.28 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a PEG 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $240.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.