Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,316 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,710 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.5% of Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $27,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Apple Stock Down 3.1 %

AAPL stock traded down $6.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $198.89. 67,364,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,243,494. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $212.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.58. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 0.52%. 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 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wedbush cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.