Prospect Financial Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Prospect Financial Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,099 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,377 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.5% of Prospect Financial Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Prospect Financial Services LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Apple stock opened at $213.36 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $203.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company 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 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Company 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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