SMART Wealth LLC Sells 4,263 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• SMART Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 25.6%, selling 4,263 shares and owning a total of 12,384 shares worth approximately $2,751,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Apple's stock price has seen an increase of 1.3%, reaching $227.76 per share, with a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.5%, and approved a stock repurchase program allowing for up to $100 billion in repurchases.

SMART Wealth LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,384 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,263 shares during the period. SMART Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $2.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $227.76. 42,431,176 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.96. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid 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 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.