Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Trimmed by Aries Wealth Management

Aries Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,798 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,701 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.4% of Aries Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Aries Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $19,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $204.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company 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%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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