Welch Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Welch Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 361,297 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,624 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.1% of Welch Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Welch Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $91,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 193,392 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $45,060,000 after acquiring an additional 33,056 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Apple by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 173,323 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $40,384,000 after acquiring an additional 10,280 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,998 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $9,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 877,420 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $204,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % 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 valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $6.92 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $181.46. 160,161,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,782,650. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.82. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given 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 0.55%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.05.

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.