Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Stack Financial Management Inc

Stack Financial Management Inc trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,021 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Stack Financial Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued 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 target price of $235.17.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $212.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.