Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 51,984 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,731 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after buying an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.80 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.