Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC Sells 774 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,690 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ERn Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 41,084 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,750,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,152 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Flower City Capital increased its stake in shares of Apple by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Flower City Capital now owns 12,949 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 116.9% during the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 35,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.29.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $221.27 on Wednesday. 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 $237.23. The company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $216.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.37.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 180,178 shares of company stock valued at $36,133,537. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.