Dynasty Wealth Management LLC Sells 14,426 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dynasty Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,828 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,426 shares during the quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rational Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the third quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 23,313 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,432,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,955 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 114,839 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,388 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 6,161 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 67,613 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $15,754,000 after purchasing an additional 16,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $198.53. The stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,072,491. The company's 50-day moving average price is $208.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.38. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business'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 owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

About Apple

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.