Private Client Services LLC Sells 5,423 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Private Client Services LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,423 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.1% of Private Client Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Private Client Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Apple by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.9% in the first quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 51,041 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,753,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829 shares during the period. SWP Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 23.6% during the first quarter. SWP Financial LLC now owns 42,691 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,321,000 after purchasing an additional 8,158 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Apple by 16.7% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 71,927 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,286 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 9.0% in the first quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.31. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend 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.