Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Decreased by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 503,559 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 52,439 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.9% of Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $126,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $2.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $201.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.02.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

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.