Flaharty Asset Management LLC Sells 2,568 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Flaharty Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,666 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,568 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.5% of Flaharty Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Flaharty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,972,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

AAPL stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $198.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,093,894. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $208.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. 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 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 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change 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 is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.