Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 145,313 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,844 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 8.9% of Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $36,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL stock traded down $2.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $208.78. 45,304,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,957,683. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm's 50 day moving average is $206.09 and its 200 day moving average is $226.67. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.