Sterling Financial Group Inc. Has $11.77 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sterling Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 557 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.2% of Sterling Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Sterling Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Apple by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 objective on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.27.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL opened at $208.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $203.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.50. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Company 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.