Byrne Financial Freedom LLC Sells 822 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Byrne Financial Freedom LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,726 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 822 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.5% of Byrne Financial Freedom LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Byrne Financial Freedom LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of 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. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp grew its position in Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.76 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $212.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.