WJ Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,024 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WJ Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,758 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,024 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.2% of WJ Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. WJ Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 35,926,849 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,980,431,000 after acquiring an additional 118,741 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 6,476 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 40,656 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 128,482 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $2.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $230.73. The company had a trading volume of 31,276,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,842,020. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

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.