Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $6.33 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 25.3% in Q1, selling 9,660 shares, and now holds approximately 28,505 shares valued at $6.33 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Apple, with 67.73% of the stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutional players.
• Apple reported a 9.6% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, posting a revenue of $94.04 billion and an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.57.

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 9,660 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.4% of Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the first quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 45,251 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,052,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 225,774 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $50,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the first quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 57,673 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the first quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 398,461 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $88,510,000 after purchasing an additional 4,509 shares during the period. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 44,286 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

AAPL traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $230.76. 8,640,402 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,554,328. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $210.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.94. 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 one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.