Optimum Investment Advisors Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Optimum Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,519 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,169 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 9.7% of Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its largest position. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $21,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $199.01 on Monday. 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.