Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,201 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,944 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 12.6% of Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $31,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Apple by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple 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 in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,804,401. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.10. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm 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 company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.