Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 3,122 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,122 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.0% of Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 27.7% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.00.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average of $181.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.93%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’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 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. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.