Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Sells 2,715 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 449,350 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,715 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.6% of Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $104,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 154,131 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,783,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 35,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 17,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. GenTrust LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 123,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,852,000 after buying an additional 4,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC increased its stake in Apple by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 306,430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $71,398,000 after buying an additional 11,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 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 approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.86. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.