Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Decreased by Vawter Financial Ltd.

Vawter Financial Ltd. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 414 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.4% of Vawter Financial Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Apple by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares during the period. 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 worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 184,977 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $43,100,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 1,305,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $304,065,000 after buying an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 98.2% in the 3rd quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,416 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,582,000 after acquiring an additional 22,502 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $208.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $216.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.15 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.88.

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.