Souders Financial Advisors Purchases 2,283 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Souders Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,003 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,283 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.4% of Souders Financial Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $16,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Company 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.