Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Has $62.31 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 323,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,006 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.6% of Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $172.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.62.

Apple 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.