Apple Inc. $AAPL is CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s 4th Largest Position

CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.9% of CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This 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 this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.16.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.79 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $220.75 and its 200 day moving average is $212.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple Company 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.