Keystone Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Keystone Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 273 shares during the quarter. Keystone Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in 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 period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $238.47 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $217.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders 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 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.73.

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.