Fortitude Family Office LLC Sells 6,191 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fortitude Family Office LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,964 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,191 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 16.1% of Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.46.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.