Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Cut by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,006,422 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,082,947 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.2% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.10% of Apple worth $3,757,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.