Vicus Capital Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vicus Capital trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,768 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,253 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.2% of Vicus Capital's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Vicus Capital's holdings in Apple were worth $12,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $213.88. 38,805,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,464,392. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.58.

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

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.