Souders Financial Advisors Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Souders Financial Advisors cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,730 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,112 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.8% of Souders Financial Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Souders Financial Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $13,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.67 on Thursday, reaching $237.81. 23,367,216 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,619,613. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.05.

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.