Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,167 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.4% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.