Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. Has $28.10 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 120,600 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 13.6% of Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $28,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Narwhal Capital Management increased its position in Apple by 2.5% in the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $64,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 12,243 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,279,719 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $531,166,000 after purchasing an additional 28,488 shares during the last quarter. Lanham O Dell & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lanham O Dell & Company Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,123,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, ODonnell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the third quarter. ODonnell Financial Services LLC now owns 35,003 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,156,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $4.70 on Friday, reaching $254.49. The company had a trading volume of 145,580,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. The company's fifty day moving average is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average is $225.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $255.00.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.