Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 313,302 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 247,880 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 313,302 shares during the period. Apple makes up 12.0% of Bard Financial Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $57,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Melius Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.25.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $229.85. 4,135,982 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 58,095,512. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50 day moving average is $227.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.