Provident Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Provident Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 717 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.8% of Provident Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Provident Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its position in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson began coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $3.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $170.33. 65,843,830 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,583,082. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.71.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

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.