Paragon Financial Partners Inc. Has $6.32 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Paragon Financial Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,248 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,385 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.8% of Paragon Financial Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Paragon Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $235.80 and its 200 day moving average is $234.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.22.

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.