Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lowered by Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC

Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 8.9% of Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Columbus Macro LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,946 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,803,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 24,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,807,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Courage Miller Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Courage Miller Partners LLC now owns 11,956 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova R Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 33,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,526,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.34.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.57 and a 200-day moving average of $182.21. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.80 and a 52 week high of $199.62.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.