Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by MMA Asset Management LLC

MMA Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 33.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,686 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,398 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.0% of MMA Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. MMA Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $198.53. 36,406,804 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,093,894. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $208.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.36. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.