Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Decreased by Clarus Wealth Advisors

Clarus Wealth Advisors lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,873 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 741 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.2% of Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $8,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $234.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Apple Company 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.