Absher Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,725 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Absher Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 1.8%, owning 92,619 shares worth approximately $20.57 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Apple's board initiated a $100 billion share repurchase program, indicating a belief that its stock is undervalued, allowing the company to buy back up to 3.1% of its shares.
• Analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" on Apple, with a price target averaging $234.94.

Absher Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,619 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,725 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.7% of Absher Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Absher Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $20,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.25.

Apple Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $5.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $202.38. The stock had a trading volume of 97,423,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $205.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.98. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.17.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 172.48% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.