Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by JFS Wealth Advisors LLC

JFS Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,835 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $34,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.92 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.00.

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.