Rathbones Group PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Rathbones Group PLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,842,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 25,112 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.1% of Rathbones Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $631,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted 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 worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $220.46 and a 200-day moving average of $212.50. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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 was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.99.

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.