Waldron Private Wealth LLC Has $43.05 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 223,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,232 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.0% of Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $43,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in Apple by 118.0% during 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% in the 3rd 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. boosted its position in Apple by 27.7% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $111,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.05 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.11.

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.