Financial Enhancement Group LLC Sells 423 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Financial Enhancement Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 423 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.8% of Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 82,669 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,919,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. Wealthgarden F.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $1,807,000. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 60,477 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the second quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 97,003 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,431,000 after purchasing an additional 6,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in Apple by 120.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 13,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $239.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.67, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is 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.