StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. Sells 4,590 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 54.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,868 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,590 shares during the quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.95.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $203.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.