Apollon Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 842,245 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,295 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.0% of Apollon Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $228,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 worth $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 raised its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $301.83.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
More Apple News
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Apple Price Performance
Apple stock opened at $271.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $260.73 and its 200 day moving average is $265.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.25 and a 52-week high of $288.62.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.15%.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Further Reading

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