Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Wealthstar Advisors LLC

Wealthstar Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.9% of Wealthstar Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Wealthstar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in 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 worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $233.33 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

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.