Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,918 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.2% of Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp raised its stake in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Apple by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $213.36. The company had a trading volume of 34,955,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,618,682. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $203.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.40. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

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.