Inlet Private Wealth LLC Sells 2,072 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Inlet Private Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 89,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.3% of Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation raised 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 valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.72.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $172.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.57. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. 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 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.