Marietta Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,297 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 8.0% of Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $36,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Get Our Latest Report on AAPL
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.85 on Monday, reaching $201.70. 35,293,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,144,940. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $203.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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