JNBA Financial Advisors Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

JNBA Financial Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,695 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,525 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $7,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $193.16 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $218.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.90. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.77 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.