Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lowered by Sowa Financial Group Inc.

Sowa Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,069 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,009 shares during the period. Apple makes up 20.3% of Sowa Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Sowa Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 45,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,689,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,863,000. Augustine Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 137,306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,436,000 after acquiring an additional 3,982 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 9,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $169.30 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

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.