Fusion Capital LLC Sells 4,368 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fusion Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 91,070 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,368 shares during the period. Apple makes up 9.0% of Fusion Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Fusion Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after buying an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,932,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,103,464,000 after acquiring an additional 17,604,799 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 154.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 23,295,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,729,270,000 after acquiring an additional 14,157,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.2 %

Apple stock opened at $165.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $174.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.17. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $162.80 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

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.