Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 799,798 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 53,898 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.1% of Cannell & Spears LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cannell & Spears LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $200,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in 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 buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Apple Trading Up 0.2%
Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $199.18. The stock had a trading volume of 43,675,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,560,287. The company's 50 day moving average is $200.92 and its 200-day moving average is $223.60. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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