Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,357 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.1% of Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.0% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 163,762 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,377,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 581,748 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $129,224,000 after acquiring an additional 13,711 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.6% in the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 7.5% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 69,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,478,000 after acquiring an additional 4,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tilson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the first quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,840 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.98.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $224.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.13. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.