Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,458 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 161,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,458 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 7.3% of Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $37,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Apple by 7.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 23,980 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,587,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 128,776 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,005,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 11,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Kure Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kure Advisory LLC now owns 5,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 71,622 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

AAPL opened at $229.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $227.73 and a 200-day moving average of $218.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. 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 firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.