Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Boosted by CWS Financial Advisors LLC

CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,436 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.3% of CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Sensible Financial Planning & Management LLC. acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,577,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 49,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,531,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Values Added Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 26,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sitrin Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 50,501 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,767,000 after acquiring an additional 11,936 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $205.35 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.17.

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.