Sterling Financial Planning Inc. Trims Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $226.01 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $211.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.