Roth Financial Partners LLC Has $2.70 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Roth Financial Partners LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,765 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.1% of Roth Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Roth Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 51,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $666,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,021 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Apple by 23.5% in the second quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 22,551 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,750,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $240.36 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.88.

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.