Beacon Financial Group Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beacon Financial Group lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,764 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.1% of Beacon Financial Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd boosted its stake in Apple by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 33,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management boosted its stake in Apple by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 11,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $23,232,000. Landmark Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $5,696,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 521.4% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 107,307 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $20,660,000 after purchasing an additional 90,039 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.30. 44,717,137 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Piper Sandler Companies cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate 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.