Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 838,774 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,619 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.3% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Apple were worth $210,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.3% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $199.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 51,367,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,208,923. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.