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

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,240 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.8% of Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $226.47 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $222.25 and its 200 day moving average is $200.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. 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 business earned $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

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.