Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 631,429 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,453 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.9% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $158,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Apple by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 9.8% during the third quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,395,000 after buying an additional 2,065 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 64,470 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,622,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 35,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $204.57 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $166.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.