Founders Financial Alliance LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 128,432 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,298 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.0% of Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $227.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.96.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.