Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Altus Wealth Group LLC

Key Points

• Altus Wealth Group LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, now owning 30,515 shares valued at approximately $6.78 million.
• Apple reported $1.57 earnings per share for its latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and achieving a revenue of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a $100 billion share buyback program, indicating management's belief that its stock is undervalued.

Altus Wealth Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,515 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,121 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.2% of Altus Wealth Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Altus Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $230.76. 8,640,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,554,328. The business's 50 day moving average is $210.28 and its 200-day moving average is $212.94. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

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.