Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by BNC Wealth Management LLC

BNC Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,604 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 7.0% of BNC Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. BNC Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25.1% during the first quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 29,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,611,000 after buying an additional 5,977 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 132,832 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,506,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the period. Kelly Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 278.2% in the 1st quarter. Kelly Financial Group LLC now owns 32,281 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after purchasing an additional 23,745 shares during the period. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 55,045 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,227,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.02 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer 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.

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.