Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Cut by Sage Rhino Capital LLC

Sage Rhino Capital LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,979 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,572 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.7% of Sage Rhino Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Sage Rhino Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $12,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Apple Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $2.14 on Tuesday, hitting $212.93. 51,637,380 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,044,375. The company has a fifty day moving average of $207.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 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 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.