Worth Asset Management LLC Sells 1,428 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Worth Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,042 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.0% of Worth Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Worth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 45.2% during the first quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865 shares in the last quarter. Capital Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Planning LLC now owns 23,866 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966 shares in the last quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. now owns 14,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after buying an additional 2,399 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP increased its position in Apple by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 25,688 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,405,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 100,853 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,294,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $210.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 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 given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Apple

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.