Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,876 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.9% of Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first 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. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

AAPL stock opened at $255.46 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $228.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.22. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.66.

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.