Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lowered by Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 651,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 124,309 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 7.6% of Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Apple were worth $111,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Apple by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after purchasing an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $169.30. The company had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.83. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.