Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lessened by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,632,068 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,752,580 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.8% of American Century Companies Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.22% of Apple worth $8,422,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.85 on Monday, hitting $201.70. The company had a trading volume of 35,293,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,144,940. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $203.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

About Apple

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.