Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Edge Wealth Management LLC

Edge Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,423 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 9.4% of Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $46,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $241.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $239.60 and a 200-day moving average of $233.67.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

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.