Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Spire Wealth Management’s 2nd Largest Position

Spire Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 497,410 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 86,873 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.7% of Spire Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $104,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Madison Wealth Partners Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 35,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,818,000 after purchasing an additional 5,820 shares during the period. Taylor Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,660,000. Covenant Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 21,090 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,060,000 after acquiring an additional 5,234 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $1,511,000. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $4,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $223.62 and a 200 day moving average of $205.95. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.