CWS Financial Advisors LLC Has $15.20 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.4% of CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Wealth Management boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 24,013 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,595,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 429,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $100,144,000 after acquiring an additional 111,358 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 314,787 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $73,346,000 after acquiring an additional 25,282 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Apple by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 680,078 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $154,915,000 after acquiring an additional 79,244 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

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.