Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ballast Advisors LLC

Ballast Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 101,037 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,117 shares during the period. Apple makes up 7.8% of Ballast Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Ballast Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $25,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $1.17 on Tuesday, reaching $202.87. 7,999,213 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,960,201. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $202.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.84. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 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 yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.