Southern Capital Advisors LLC Has $3.98 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Southern Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,670 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.8% of Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,396,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367,053 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,589,468,000 after purchasing an additional 7,736,013 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.67 and its 200-day moving average is $182.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.80 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

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.