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

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,861 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.9% of Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $44,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Apple by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 12.7% in the third quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 36,862 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,589,000 after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares during the period. Nova R Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 34,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,946,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 199,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,522,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $229.45 and a 200-day moving average of $232.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

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.