Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Cut by Beacon Financial Group

Beacon Financial Group lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,077 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,086 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.2% of Beacon Financial Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Beacon Financial Group's holdings in Apple were worth $10,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $196.79. The company had a trading volume of 51,328,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.77 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $219.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.