Ballast Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ballast Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,737 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,525 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 8.4% of Ballast Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ballast Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $22,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Headinvest LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in Apple by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 808,709 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $155,701,000 after purchasing an additional 112,980 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $3.23 on Monday, reaching $186.28. The company had a trading volume of 72,001,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,054,824. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $172.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.01.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Barclays upped their price target on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.