Delta Financial Advisors LLC Sells 1,296 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,289 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,296 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.9% of Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GDS Wealth Management raised its holdings in Apple by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 92,753 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728 shares during the last quarter. TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,985,000. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC lifted its position in Apple by 10.0% during the third quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 116,813 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,217,000 after buying an additional 10,601 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 5.6% during the third quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 38,220 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,905,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 31,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,429,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.98 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $241.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

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.