Souders Financial Advisors Sells 11,645 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Souders Financial Advisors lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,842 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,645 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.2% of Souders Financial Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Souders Financial Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $15,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $211.45. 43,910,127 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,930,688. 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 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $206.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple 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.