First Horizon Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 324,979 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,257 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.0% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $72,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ AAPL 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $210.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.