Foster Group Inc. Trims Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Foster Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 0.8% in Q2, holding 143,641 shares worth approximately $29.47 million, making Apple its 26th largest position.
• Insider Activity reported that SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 34,821 shares at an average price of $223.20, representing a 20.3% reduction in her position.
• Research firms have set price targets for Apple stock ranging from $200.00 to $310.00, with the average target being $247.51, reflecting a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Foster Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 143,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,109 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.0% of Foster Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Foster Group Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $29,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Wedbush set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $257.13 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $232.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.38. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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