Advisor Resource Council Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Advisor Resource Council reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 85.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,758 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 38,652 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.2% of Advisor Resource Council's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Advisor Resource Council's holdings in Apple were worth $1,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $202.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.56. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.