E&G Advisors LP Sells 3,623 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

E&G Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,623 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.8% of E&G Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $172.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.57. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.72.

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.