Fernwood Investment Management LLC Sells 7,872 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 55,472 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,872 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.2% of Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.4% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 204,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $47,164,000 after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 57,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,292,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 46,018 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,692,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 15,317 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $239.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.33. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year 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.

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 business 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.