Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Sells 2,779 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,008 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,779 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.7% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $54,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $256.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $225.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.22. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.03.

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.