Centric Wealth Management Sells 8,613 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Centric Wealth Management decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,553 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,613 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.4% of Centric Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Centric Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $16,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.45. 51,276,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,959,574. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $201.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.37.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.