Financial Security Advisor Inc. Has $13.54 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,087 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,512 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.4% of Financial Security Advisor Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Financial Security Advisor Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $13,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Hilltop Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 32,994 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,262,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 34,721 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,695,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 19,033 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,766,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Peloton Wealth Strategists lifted its stake in Apple by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists now owns 2,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HC Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HC Advisors LLC now owns 5,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $197.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.