Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,670 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 28,357 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.4% of Wambolt & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value 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 approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $2.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $200.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,012,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,125,285. The business's fifty day moving average is $201.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, 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 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

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.