Sage Capital Advisors llc Sells 5,819 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sage Capital Advisors llc decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 152,361 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,819 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 8.9% of Sage Capital Advisors llc's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sage Capital Advisors llc's holdings in Apple were worth $33,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,360,608. 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 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $202.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.03.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 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 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.39.

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.