Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Merriman Wealth Management LLC

Merriman Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,380 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,830 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.8% of Merriman Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Merriman Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Lowery Thomas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $226.96 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $226.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.