Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 3.5% of Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 75.4% in the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5,935.2% in the second quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 229,929 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $144.43 and a 200-day moving average of $145.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $179.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.