Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,713 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,557 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.1% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.47.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $212.49. 70,122,748 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 64,600,812. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.04. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.