Financial Advocates Investment Management Has $19.74 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Financial Advocates Investment Management decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 74.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,865 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 263,429 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.4% of Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $230.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.94.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.