Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by LCM Capital Management Inc

LCM Capital Management Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,014 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,395 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.2% of LCM Capital Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. LCM Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. LPF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.5% in the second quarter. LPF Advisors LLC now owns 2,355 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Keystone Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 71,138 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,983,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 102,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,515,000 after acquiring an additional 10,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 19,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Apple Stock Down 2.6 %

Apple stock opened at $243.85 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $238.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.