Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by Cannell & Spears LLC

Cannell & Spears LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 799,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 53,898 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.1% of Cannell & Spears LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $200,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,566,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.02.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $203.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average is $224.12. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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.