Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.6% of Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sound Stewardship LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sound Stewardship LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Warner Financial Inc. raised its position in Apple by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Warner Financial Inc. now owns 15,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,947,000 after buying an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 18,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,652,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 61,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,356,000 after acquiring an additional 4,496 shares during the period. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target 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 issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $218.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $231.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.