626 Financial LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

626 Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 396 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.9% of 626 Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. 626 Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. KWB Wealth grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 17,109 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,986,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Sharper & Granite LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC now owns 15,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,832,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,257,000 after buying an additional 6,004 shares during the period. Crane Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Crane Advisory LLC now owns 80,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tlwm raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Tlwm now owns 12,978 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,250,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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 $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $247.10 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $240.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.12. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.