Claro Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Claro Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 94.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 111,422 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $248.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.