Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is King Wealth Management Group’s 5th Largest Position

King Wealth Management Group decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 124,360 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 880 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.5% of King Wealth Management Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. King Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $223.83 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $241.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.82. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

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 the consensus estimate 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. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.