ACT Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,842 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

ACT Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,842 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.2% of ACT Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. ACT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baker Boyer National Bank boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Beddow Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius increased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.92.

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.