Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Ascent Group LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Ascent Group LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,846 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 46,155 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of Ascent Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $39,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111,858 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. lifted its stake in Apple by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. now owns 23,741 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,945,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,382 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,356,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 47,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,857,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Monday, reaching $201.50. 55,014,210 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,620,890. 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 50 day moving average price of $202.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.41. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

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 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 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

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.