JNBA Financial Advisors Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

JNBA Financial Advisors lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.7% of JNBA Financial Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $6,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $231.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in 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 usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.