HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 325,623 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,033 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.4% of HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after acquiring an additional 287,329 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.72.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $172.15 and a 200-day moving average of $181.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.