McCarthy Asset Management Inc. Sells 11,740 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 77.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,488 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,740 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.6% of McCarthy Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned 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, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $195.64 on Wednesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.47. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.