Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Formidable Asset Management LLC's Largest Position

Formidable Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,235 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,654 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 8.9% of Formidable Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Formidable Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $54,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.30.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Apple

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.

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