Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Has $14.90 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,400 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 155,313 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.5% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $487,435,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.9 %

Apple stock opened at $181.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $172.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.93%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

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.