Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 29,162 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.4% of Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $74,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Apple by 6.3% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Apple by 2.9% in the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $876,483,000 after acquiring an additional 103,856 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.94. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.