Realta Investment Advisors Has $17.60 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Realta Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 49.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,098 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 73,030 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 8.2% of Realta Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Realta Investment Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $17,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $238.91 and a 200-day moving average of $228.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

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.