Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Consolidated Planning Corp

Consolidated Planning Corp decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,151 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.8% of Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,075,599,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $184.12 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.77. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.17 and a 12-month high of $198.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Piper Jaffray Companies boosted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $149.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.