Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Decreased by Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 158,536 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,707 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.8% of Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $259.02 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $237.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.21. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.