TCTC Holdings LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 331,737 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,275 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 3.0% of TCTC Holdings LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. TCTC Holdings LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $83,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 95,950.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 1,919 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 79,005 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 328,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $76,479,000 after acquiring an additional 7,681 shares during the last quarter. ETF Store Inc. increased its position in Apple by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 1,869 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 643,882 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $150,025,000 after purchasing an additional 12,232 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
Apple Stock Down 0.3%
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.40. The stock had a trading volume of 8,470,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,035,679. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $203.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.
Apple Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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