FAS Wealth Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• FAS Wealth Partners Inc. decreased its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.4%, resulting in ownership of 140,849 shares, valued at $31,287,000.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Apple, with Citigroup raising it to $245.00 and JPMorgan Chase to $255.00, maintaining various ratings including "buy" and "neutral."
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 15.78%.

FAS Wealth Partners Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,849 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,051 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.6% of FAS Wealth Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. FAS Wealth Partners Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $31,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $238.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,841,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,507,805. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $217.73 and a 200-day moving average of $212.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. 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 released 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 firm 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 company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.