Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Cut by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,382 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,969 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.4% of Kovack Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Kovack Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $41,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its holdings in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $7.34 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $222.64. The stock had a trading volume of 97,741,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,004,285. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $241.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $238.02.

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.