Clarity Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clarity Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.4% of Clarity Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Clarity Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $194.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $220.98 and a 200-day moving average of $230.53. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.