Key Financial Inc Has $24.62 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Financial Inc lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,458 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.6% of Key Financial Inc's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Key Financial Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $24,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.88.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $208.37 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $216.41 and its 200 day moving average is $229.42. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $168.15 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % 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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.