Howard Financial Services LTD. Sells 650 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Howard Financial Services LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 133,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.5% of Howard Financial Services LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

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.