Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Wendell David Associates Inc.

Wendell David Associates Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,525 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.3% of Wendell David Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $58,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after purchasing an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in 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 last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.