Skylands Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Skylands Capital LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,055 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 18,000 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.7% of Skylands Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Skylands Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $33,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Sensible Financial Planning & Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,577,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 49,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,531,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Values Added Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 26,561 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,189,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sitrin Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 50,501 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,767,000 after buying an additional 11,936 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $199.29. 31,371,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,147,679. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board 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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple Company 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.