Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by Lee Danner & Bass Inc.

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 275,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 33,341 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.5% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $52,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th 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 grew its position in Apple by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in Apple by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $190.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. 0.06% of the stock is 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.