HFG Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

HFG Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,120 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 973 shares during the period. HFG Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Financial Life Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Life Advisors now owns 1,267 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.6% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,006 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 489,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $83,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 263,707 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $45,220,000 after purchasing an additional 11,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Apple by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 98,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,852,000 after buying an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.57 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $233.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.05 and a 200-day moving average of $187.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.