Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC

Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,048 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,769 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.3% of Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased 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 worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $213.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,955,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,594,994. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. 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's 50 day moving average is $203.35 and its 200 day moving average is $218.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

About Apple

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.