Sterneck Capital Management LLC Sells 2,573 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sterneck Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,309 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,573 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 10.6% of Sterneck Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sterneck Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $19,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 321,725 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $71,465,000 after buying an additional 30,475 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 20,662 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,590,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Veery Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 11,762 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,613,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. Marion Wealth Management boosted its stake in Apple by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 37,643 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $201.08. 73,073,177 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,462,167. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $202.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.53. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.39.

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.