Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $249.36 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 995,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 86,660 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.2% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $249,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during 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 buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Apple by 25,285.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Apple Trading Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush decreased their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

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.