Advisory Alpha LLC Sells 54,446 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Advisory Alpha LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 45.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,537 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 54,446 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $14,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,992,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.39.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $201.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 73,093,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,477,308. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.53.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share 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 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.