Sowell Financial Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sowell Financial Services LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 402,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 591 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.4% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $93,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $227.47 and its 200 day moving average is $217.40. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.