Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Reduced by WFA of San Diego LLC

WFA of San Diego LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,683 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 910 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 11.1% of WFA of San Diego LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. WFA of San Diego LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in 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 during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in 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 in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its position in Apple by 34.3% during 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. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.47 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.95. The company has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.