Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,273 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,192 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 15.3% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $12,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $212.41. 44,333,520 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,446,789. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $203.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.73. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board 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 paid a $0.26 dividend. 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 16.20%.

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.