Mainsail Financial Group LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mainsail Financial Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares during the period. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $169.38 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple 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.