Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $222.88 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,003,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 77,185 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.4% of Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Apple were worth $222,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.31 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $213.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.01.

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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