Rational Advisors LLC Sells 3,792 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rational Advisors LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,521 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,792 shares during the period. Rational Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,575,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Income Solutions Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Income Solutions Inc now owns 21,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 5,575,218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,396,146,000 after purchasing an additional 213,180 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 114.4% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 398,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,873,000 after acquiring an additional 212,762 shares during the period. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 21,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,435,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.92 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $217.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.00.

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.