Fortis Group Advisors LLC Sells 4,174 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,357 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,174 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.9% of Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $223.25 and its 200 day moving average is $205.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Cfra lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. KeyCorp reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.