AFS Financial Group LLC Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

AFS Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 55.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,945 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 67,292 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 9.9% of AFS Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. AFS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Apple by 13.6% in the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after buying an additional 20,737 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Apple by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.05.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $169.02 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.80 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The company has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.