Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Trims Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,744 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,345 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after buying an additional 287,329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $184.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $172.20 and a 200 day moving average of $181.79. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. 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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.