Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Cut by Index Fund Advisors Inc.

Index Fund Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,538 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,870 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.8% of Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 12.4% in the third quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 185,781 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,287,000 after purchasing an additional 20,461 shares during the last quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.2% during the third quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,153 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the third quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $202.52 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $222.27 and its 200 day moving average is $230.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. 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 (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 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

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.