Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Sells 97,161 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,321,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 97,161 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 8.3% of Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Apple were worth $278,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $563,000. Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $2,360,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $18,707,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 150,459 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $460,299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $227.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.61. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.