Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,658 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 873 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.2% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in Apple by 7.3% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This 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 owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp downgraded 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. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

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.