Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Front Row Advisors LLC

Front Row Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 164,091 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 408 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 11.7% of Front Row Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Front Row Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. MKT Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 6,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Aufman Associates Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Aufman Associates Inc now owns 7,674 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $152.59 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $144.98 and its 200 day moving average is $145.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Apple in a report on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, Fundamental Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.24.

Apple Company Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.