Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 669,825 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,965,117 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 669,825 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $955,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in Apple by 27.7% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.