Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Trimmed by AMI Asset Management Corp

Key Points

• AMI Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in Apple by 3.6%, holding 515,433 shares, which constitutes the largest portion of their portfolio at 6.7% of total assets.
• Apple's stock has seen a 4.2% increase recently, trading at $229.35, alongside an announcement of a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share to be paid on August 14th.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Apple, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target from $250.00 to $255.00 and a consensus price target of $237.60 among analysts.

AMI Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 515,433 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 19,440 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.7% of AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $114,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Up 4.2%

Apple stock traded up $9.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $229.35. The stock had a trading volume of 113,661,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $206.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.