Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC

Key Points

• Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 22.1%, now holding 10,763 shares worth approximately $2.24 million, making it the firm’s 17th largest holding.
• Institutional investors own about 67.73% of Apple's stock, highlighting significant institutional interest in the company.
• Apple reported earnings per share of $1.57 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 9.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 22.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,763 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,061 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.4% of Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.1370 on Tuesday, reaching $229.7530. 23,261,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,655,609. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $210.28 and a 200-day moving average of $212.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.