Hobart Private Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hobart Private Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,396 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 167 shares during the period. Hobart Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 70.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.23.

Apple Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $167.78 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.78 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $177.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $2.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,915 shares of company stock valued at $44,202,868 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.