BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 3,349 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 307,294 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,349 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.7% of BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $59,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $175.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.21. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.