Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 129 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,861 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 26,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,087,000 after buying an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,849 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Hudock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 33,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 115,800 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 516,138 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $99,372,000 after purchasing an additional 24,506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $165.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $174.67 and a 200-day moving average of $182.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.80 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

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.