Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Lavaca Capital LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Lavaca Capital LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,603 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.8% of Lavaca Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Lavaca Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Activity

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

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.