ProVise Management Group LLC Has $20.39 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ProVise Management Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,408 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,543 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.7% of ProVise Management Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. ProVise Management Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $20,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. State Street Corp lifted its position in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 directly owns 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.94 on Friday, hitting $199.01. The company had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 50 day moving average of $203.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.00. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 160.83%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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.