Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Cut by Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 293,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,480 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.7% of Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 26,797 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,588,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 101.9% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 700,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $120,086,000 after buying an additional 353,801 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.1% during the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 78,010 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,356,000 after buying an additional 5,870 shares in the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.1% during the third quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,492 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 77,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,353,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.11.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company 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 148.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.