Abacus Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Abacus Wealth Partners LLC has decreased its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.5%, resulting in ownership of 30,577 shares, which represents around 1% of its total portfolio.
• Recent research from firms indicates a mixed outlook for Apple, with Bank of AmericaPhillip Securities downgraded its rating to "moderate sell" with a $200 target.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting a 0.4% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,577 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.0% of Abacus Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.51.

Apple Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $231.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company 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.

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