Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.40 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.8% of Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.66.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $254.43 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.