MONECO Advisors LLC Sells 13,984 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MONECO Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 102,145 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,984 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.0% of MONECO Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,343 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,658 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 63,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,046,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 36,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,754,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the second quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 19,185 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $237.41 and a 200-day moving average of $227.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

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.