Richmond Brothers Inc. Sells 7,404 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Richmond Brothers Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,404 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.7% of Richmond Brothers Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Richmond Brothers Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $4,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group decreased their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,305,937. 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 $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business's 50 day moving average is $203.59 and its 200-day moving average is $225.20.

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. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value 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. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% 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.

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.