Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's Largest Position

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 536,790 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,445 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 11.7% of Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $134,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,567,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,642,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.42. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.15 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.88.

Apple Company 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.