Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,260 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,260 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.9% of Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.8%

AAPL traded down $4.2250 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $226.3350. 21,412,486 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,531,371. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $210.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.06. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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 for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.