Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 93.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,905 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 830,587 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.02.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.92. The stock had a trading volume of 46,477,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $201.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.15. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders 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.