Sierra Capital LLC Has $28.12 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sierra Capital LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,169 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.3% of Sierra Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

Apple stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $212.15 and a 200-day moving average of $228.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.