EQ Wealth Advisors LLC Has $266,000 Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

EQ Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,295 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings 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. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $273.33 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $254.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.08. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $277.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Argus set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

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.