Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Cut by FreeGulliver LLC

FreeGulliver LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,821 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,816 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.9% of FreeGulliver LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. FreeGulliver LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $203.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted 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, KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% 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 valued at $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.