Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 536,790 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,445 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 11.7% of Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $134,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple 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 transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

Apple Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $193.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.77 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

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.