Elite Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Elite Wealth Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,608 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 37,700 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.5% of Elite Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Elite Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $44,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.63.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $213.32. 55,559,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,562,730. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $213.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.11 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 $1.61 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.