Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Keystone Wealth Services LLC

Keystone Wealth Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,099 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,947 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.9% of Keystone Wealth Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Keystone Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $210.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.40. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.