Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.1% of Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.93.

Insider Activity

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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $237.88 on Friday. 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 current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $223.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.