Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 31.2% in the first quarter, now holding 3,347 shares worth $743,000.
• Apple announced a $100 billion share repurchase program, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.
• Despite increasing competition, Apple reported earnings of $1.65 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 5.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 31.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,347 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,515 shares during the quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $5.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $202.38. 97,423,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $205.22 and a 200-day moving average of $213.98. 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 has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.17. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm 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 172.48%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.