Segment Wealth Management LLC Has $27.93 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Segment Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 145,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,474 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.5% of Segment Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $487,435,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.60. 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 market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.