Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by GAM Holding AG

GAM Holding AG lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,787 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.3% of GAM Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. GAM Holding AG’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

AAPL stock opened at $169.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 2.01 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 one year low of $162.80 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $173.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

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.