ROI Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ROI Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,585 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.9% of ROI Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. ROI Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $199.20 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $201.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

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.