Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson & CO. has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.8%, selling 26,688 shares and now holds 1,488,352 shares worth approximately $330.6 million.
• Apple shares experienced a decline of 2.0%, trading at $226.01 with a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion.
• The company recently announced a $0.26 quarterly dividend and initiated a stock repurchase program to buy back $100 billion of shares, indicating a belief that the stock is undervalued.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in 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 1,488,352 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 26,688 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Apple were worth $330,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.98.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $3.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $228.41. The company had a trading volume of 24,751,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,281,676. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.89 and a 200-day moving average of $213.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.