Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Cut by Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 263,206 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 19,271 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.8% of Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $61,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.8% during the first quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC increased its position in Apple by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 103,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,821,000 after purchasing an additional 31,409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $246.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $231.24 and its 200-day moving average is $222.66. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $250.80. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

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.