Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,793 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,576 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,793 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.4% of Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $172.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.57. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.