Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by WealthShield Partners LLC

WealthShield Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,095 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.8% of WealthShield Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. WealthShield Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. increased its holdings in Apple by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in Apple by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after buying an additional 20,737 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position 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 worth $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

AAPL opened at $169.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.05.

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.