Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lessened by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 190,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,413 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.0% of Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 116,483.5% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,396,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367,053 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Apple by 3.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,589,468,000 after purchasing an additional 7,736,013 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.34.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, 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 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.04.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.