Sawyer & Company Inc Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Sawyer & Company Inc. has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 6.8%, retaining 51,973 shares, which constitutes 4.7% of its investment portfolio.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.65, exceeding analyst expectations and revealing a revenue increase to $95.36 billion.
• The company has initiated a $100 billion stock buyback plan and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share, reflecting confidence in its stock value.

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,973 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,815 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.7% of Sawyer & Company Inc's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $11,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.94.

Apple Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $2.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $209.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 43,674,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $205.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

About Apple

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.