Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Collaborative Wealth Managment Inc.

Collaborative Wealth Managment Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,890 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,549 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.8% of Collaborative Wealth Managment Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Collaborative Wealth Managment Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $6,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Apple by 2.9% during the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $876,483,000 after purchasing an additional 103,856 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.95. 51,367,725 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,221,859. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $203.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company'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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.