Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,557 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.5% of Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Signature Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in Apple by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 9,315 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 169,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,993 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 15,063 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,772,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $31,598,000. Finally, Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 31,636 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,922,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $199.41. The stock had a trading volume of 31,755,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,135,340. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $204.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.36. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents 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, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple 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.