ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 6,394 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 28.2%, selling 6,394 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with 16,292 shares valued at approximately $3.6 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Apple during the same quarter, with Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. notably boosting its holdings by 65.1%, bringing their total to nearly 1 million shares.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting earnings per share of $1.57 and revenue of $94.04 billion, which is a 9.6% increase year-over-year.

ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,292 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,394 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.3% of ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction 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 approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $232.14. The 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. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.71.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.37.

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.