Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Reduced by Aua Capital Management LLC

Aua Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,485 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 18,228 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.0% of Aua Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Aua Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Apple by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 36,862 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,589,000 after buying an additional 4,168 shares in the last quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 34,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 199,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,522,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the third quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 7.3 %

AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $229.45 and its 200-day moving average is $232.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Profile

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.