Financial Partners Group Inc Sells 2,330 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Financial Partners Group Inc reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.3%, selling 2,330 shares to hold a total of 101,104 shares, which are now valued at approximately $20.74 million.
• Recently, various analysts have adjusted their price targets for Apple, with estimates ranging from $180 to $305, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.
• Insider selling activity was noted as both SVP Katherine L. Adams and CEO Timothy D. Cook sold significant shares of the company on October 2nd, which indicates shifts in insider confidence.

Financial Partners Group Inc cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,104 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,330 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.9% of Financial Partners Group Inc's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Financial Partners Group Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $20,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays increased 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. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.49.

Apple Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $258.02 on Friday. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

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