Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Cut by Bray Capital Advisors

Bray Capital Advisors cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,735 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.5% of Bray Capital Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $14,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Windward Capital Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA now owns 1,024,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $238,643,000 after buying an additional 48,284 shares during the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 29,700 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,920,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the third quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC raised its stake in Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 15,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,507,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $118,913,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $233.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.52. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.