Appleton Partners Inc. MA Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Appleton Partners Inc. MA has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.3%, owning approximately $78.72 million in shares, which represents about 6.1% of its total portfolio.
• Insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple at an average price of $208.19, resulting in a near 22.41% decrease in their ownership position.
• Apple announced a new stock buyback program worth $100 billion, indicating a belief that its shares are undervalued, and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share.

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 354,384 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,398 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.1% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Apple were worth $78,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

Apple Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of AAPL traded down $2.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $209.05. The company had a trading volume of 43,674,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $205.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.16. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.