Optimum Investment Advisors Sells 2,263 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Optimum Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,733 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,263 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 7.5% of Optimum Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $16,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in Apple by 14.5% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 176,876 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,283,000 after buying an additional 22,428 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.9% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 137,396 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,523,000 after buying an additional 7,706 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,942,735 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $332,616,000 after buying an additional 20,478 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the third quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 176,570 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 23.4% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 65,745 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,257,000 after purchasing an additional 12,471 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $209.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $189.37 and a 200-day moving average of $184.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions 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 sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.46.

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.