Navellier & Associates Inc. Sells 8,213 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Navellier & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,213 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.5% of Navellier & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $12,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $7.97 on Friday, reaching $205.35. The company had a trading volume of 100,891,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,620,753. The business's 50-day moving average is $212.15 and its 200 day moving average is $228.63. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.25.

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.