Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by BLB&B Advisors LLC

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 307,273 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,011 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.9% of BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $76,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $172.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.01. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.23.

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.