Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC Sells 745 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 745 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.7% of Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $198.85 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $224.31 and its 200 day moving average is $231.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last ninety days. 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.