Pacific Center for Financial Services Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pacific Center for Financial Services reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.2% of Pacific Center for Financial Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Pacific Center for Financial Services’ holdings in Apple were worth $8,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.