Prudent Man Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,789 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.3% of Prudent Man Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Prudent Man Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 47,066 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,786,000 after purchasing an additional 12,210 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 99,567 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,933,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 18,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,678,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,736,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 872,416 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $218,470,000 after acquiring an additional 25,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $1.04 on Friday, reaching $198.53. The company had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,093,894. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Company 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.