IPG Investment Advisors LLC Sells 20,162 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,511 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 20,162 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.2% of IPG Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. IPG Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $18,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $203.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $201.17 and its 200-day moving average is $224.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue 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 authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.02.

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.

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