Facet Wealth Inc. Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Facet Wealth Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,886 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,182 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.8% of Facet Wealth Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Facet Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $29,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $200.87. 23,468,951 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,129,072. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $204.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.54. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. 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%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.