Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Sage Advisors LLC

Sage Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,097 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,084 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.2% of Sage Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Sage Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $6.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $205.83. The stock had a trading volume of 13,793,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,640,486. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.69. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.92 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.25.

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.