Retirement Capital Strategies Has $7.03 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Retirement Capital Strategies cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,058 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,024 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.7% of Retirement Capital Strategies’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Retirement Capital Strategies’ holdings in Apple were worth $7,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $205.93 and a 200-day moving average of $226.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.