Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Capital Wealth Management LLC

Capital Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during 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 period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $248.13 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $250.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $232.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last three months. 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.