William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc Sells 64 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.8% of William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. William Howard & Co Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $243.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $238.41 and a 200-day moving average of $228.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

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.