Rothschild Investment LLC Sells 6,714 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rothschild Investment LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 301,018 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,714 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.9% of Rothschild Investment LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Rothschild Investment LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $75,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during 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. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $6.46 on Monday, hitting $198.89. 67,364,869 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,243,494. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $212.15 and a 200 day moving average of $228.58. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.