Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Decreased by Strategic Advisors LLC

Strategic Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 241,570 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,604 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.8% of Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $46,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its stake in Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.21. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.