Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 7,498 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,498 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.2% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $233.33 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $208.49 and its 200 day moving average is $213.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Apple

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.