Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lessened by Ardent Capital Management Inc.

Ardent Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,958 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,458 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 15.1% of Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after buying an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,501,000 after buying an additional 34,414 shares during the period. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.31.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $210.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.11 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Apple 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.