Bonness Enterprises Inc. Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bonness Enterprises Inc. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,440 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Bonness Enterprises Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Bonness Enterprises Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 116,483.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,396,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367,053 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies lowered shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

AAPL opened at $165.00 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.80 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $174.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s payout ratio is 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.