Unified Investment Management Sells 1,211 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Unified Investment Management reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 14.8% in the first quarter, owning 6,956 shares worth approximately $1,545,000.
• Apple's recent earnings report showed $1.57 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.43, with a revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter.
• The company has authorized a $100 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Unified Investment Management reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,956 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,211 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.8% of Unified Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Unified Investment Management's holdings in Apple were worth $1,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $230.76. 8,640,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,554,328. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm 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 50-day simple moving average of $210.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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.