LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 396 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.2% of LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $229.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.81.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.