Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $270.59 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,080,549 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 32,459 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.8% of Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $270,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.96. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.26.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.