Laurel Wealth Planning LLC Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Laurel Wealth Planning LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,681 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. LPF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.5% during 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 increased its position 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 worth $14,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 102,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,515,000 after acquiring an additional 10,874 shares during the period. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 19,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $243.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $238.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.58. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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