LMG Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

LMG Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.0% of LMG Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. LMG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $166.90 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.