Aries Wealth Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aries Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 853 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.3% of Aries Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Aries Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. G&S Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 17,678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,427,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,282 shares during the period. Castellan Group lifted its stake in Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Castellan Group now owns 5,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 7,788 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.