Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lowered by Scharf Investments LLC

Key Points

• Scharf Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Apple by 24.1%, selling 4,164 shares, and now owns 13,132 shares worth approximately $2.9 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently acquired new positions in Apple, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 67.73%.
• Apple announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share with an annual yield of 0.5%, and initiated a $100 billion share buyback plan to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock.

Scharf Investments LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 24.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,132 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,164 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $204.14. The stock had a trading volume of 7,744,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,777,820. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $205.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.31. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

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

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple Company 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.