Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC has reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 8.0%, now holding 18,067 shares which represents 4.5% of its investment portfolio, making Apple its 7th largest position.
• Apple has recently authorized a $100 billion share buyback program, indicating that the company believes its shares are undervalued.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share to be paid on August 14th, reflecting a 0.5% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,067 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,573 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.5% of Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.25.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. 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 owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.79 on Tuesday, hitting $204.14. 7,744,827 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,777,820. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50 day moving average is $205.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.31. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid 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 yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

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

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.