Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Steele Capital Management Inc.

Steele Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,878 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 329 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.7% of Steele Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Steele Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 83,977 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,029,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,493,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 60,851 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,054 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 201,818 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,539,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $208.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.42. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $168.15 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.