Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,953 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 9.1% of Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $218.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.42. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.