ACT Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,527 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ACT Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,183 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,527 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.6% of ACT Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. ACT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.95.

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.