Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Tacita Capital Inc

Tacita Capital Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.19. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.