Cannon Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cannon Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,838 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,343 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.3% of Cannon Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cannon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $6,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $4,972,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $202.67. The stock had a trading volume of 52,015,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,214,415. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.