Souders Financial Advisors Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Souders Financial Advisors lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 70,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,188 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.3% of Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $13,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 27.7% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $172.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.77. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.62.

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.