Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Alterna Wealth Management Inc.

Alterna Wealth Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,280 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,383 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.2% of Alterna Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Alterna Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rational Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 23,313 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,432,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 52,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,166,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 99,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,207,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 45,139 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $242.70 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $239.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.66. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.