Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 96,848 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.4% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its position in Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. CLSA upped their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.82.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

AAPL opened at $274.61 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $268.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.34. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.