WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLFree Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 189,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,908 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.1% of WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $47,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Apple

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $202.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.30. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

About Apple

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Receive News & Ratings for Apple Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apple and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.