Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Sells 4,276 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,348 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,276 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.5% of Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wiser Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC now owns 25,642 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Bowie Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 192,126 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $44,765,000 after acquiring an additional 7,007 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,978 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,422,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,780,297 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,142,677,000 after acquiring an additional 623,165 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the third quarter. Blue Investment Partners LLC now owns 192,821 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $44,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.14 on Friday, reaching $203.77. The company had a trading volume of 23,305,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,992,980. The company's fifty day moving average is $201.56 and its 200-day moving average is $224.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 0.51%. 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 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.