Souders Financial Advisors Sells 6,188 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Souders Financial Advisors lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,188 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.3% of Souders Financial Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $13,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $172.86 and a 200-day moving average of $181.77. 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 has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

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.