Harrell Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Harrell Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 103,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,524 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.8% of Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $242.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.74. 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 $242.76.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.