Wallace Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,331 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,400 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.0% of Wallace Advisory Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Wallace Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Oppenheimer reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $229.85. 4,135,982 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 58,095,512. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $227.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.