Williams Financial LLC Sells 59,034 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Williams Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 98.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 930 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 59,034 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.1% of Williams Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Williams Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $130,629,000 after purchasing an additional 17,519 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 991,643 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $170,047,000 after buying an additional 119,866 shares during the last quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 12,707 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 49,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,470,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 2,568,133 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $440,383,000 after acquiring an additional 29,162 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $4.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $254.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 145,580,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $255.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.78.

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.