Brown Financial Advisors Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brown Financial Advisors lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,548 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,367 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.9% of Brown Financial Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Brown Financial Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $4,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL traded up $3.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $244.60. 40,828,061 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,141,047. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock's 50-day moving average is $240.67 and its 200-day moving average is $231.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.