Ellerson Group Inc. ADV Sells 473 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ellerson Group Inc. ADV lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,675 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 473 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 8.3% of Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $211.26 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $206.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.