Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $7.88 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,481 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.5% of Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $206.09 and its 200 day moving average is $226.68. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.