Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Sells 2,999 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 15th, 2023

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,778 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,999 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.2% of Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 262,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,162,000 after purchasing an additional 7,207 shares in the last quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,877,000. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $7,147,000. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $619,000. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $23,047,000. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Atlantic Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday. 58.com reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.40.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $183.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $184.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.62. The company has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 69,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.25, for a total transaction of $11,566,839.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at $17,790,980.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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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.