Modera Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Modera Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 884,026 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,953 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.7% of Modera Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Modera Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $221,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 32.9% in the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,518,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $4,972,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wedbush lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $2.14 on Tuesday, reaching $212.93. 51,637,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,107,660. The firm's 50 day moving average is $207.59 and its 200-day moving average is $227.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.