Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 260 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Melius Research boosted their price target on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.