Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,226 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 12,057 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.3% of Spartan Planning & Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $3,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 64,092 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,237,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the first quarter. Legacy Solutions LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $205,881,000 after buying an additional 72,844 shares during the period. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.9% during the first quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,790 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.39.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,477,308. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $202.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 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.