William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,872 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 886 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.7% of William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $231.41 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $226.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.91.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.