Evergreen Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Evergreen Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 26.0%, owning 9,511 shares valued at around $2.1 million after selling 3,346 shares in the first quarter.
• Bank of America and Evercore ISI both set a price target of $250 on Apple shares, indicating a strong buy sentiment from multiple analysts, with an average rating classified as a "Moderate Buy."
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share with a yield of 0.4%.

Evergreen Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 26.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,511 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,346 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.3% of Evergreen Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp grew its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.42 on Monday, reaching $232.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,382,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $215.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.71. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.