Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,381 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.7% of Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. boosted its position in Apple by 13.2% during the second quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.92.

Apple Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $271.84 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.