Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Synergy Asset Management LLC

Synergy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,460 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 21,715 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.9% of Synergy Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $56,396,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367,053 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Apple by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,589,468,000 after purchasing an additional 7,736,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $172.69 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $176.40 and its 200-day moving average is $182.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.80 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.08.

Apple 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.