Rench Wealth Management Inc. Has $21.53 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rench Wealth Management Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 92,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 887 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.4% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $3,331,000. Equita Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 50.2% in the second quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,792 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its holdings in Apple by 2,278.2% in the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 350,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $73,717,000 after acquiring an additional 335,283 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,014,406 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $213,654,000 after buying an additional 166,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,547,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.04. 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.44%. 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.