McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 318 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.5% of McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. KG&L Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 69,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,301,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 31,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,033,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. AJ Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. AJ Advisors LLC now owns 12,173 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 58,550 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,273,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 19,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,831,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $226.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $220.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.44. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.63.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. Corporate 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.