Vawter Financial Ltd. Sells 522 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vawter Financial Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,858 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 522 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.4% of Vawter Financial Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in 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 period. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $223.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.77. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.14.

Apple Company 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.