Oak Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Oak Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,118 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the period. Apple comprises 11.8% of Oak Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 359,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,309,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares during the last quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 18,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 35,330 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,802,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Arcadia Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,676 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Capital Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $582,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $169.02 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

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.