Skylands Capital LLC Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Skylands Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 129,530 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,525 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.2% of Skylands Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Skylands Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $28,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. now owns 3,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 20,383 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Financial Insights Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 65,121 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 101,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,440,000 after purchasing an additional 25,978 shares during the period. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 80,572 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $17,897,000 after purchasing an additional 27,316 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.19 on Friday, reaching $231.59. 56,003,275 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 63,552,584. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $209.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.33. 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 results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 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.