Atala Financial Inc Sells 17,383 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Atala Financial Inc has decreased its stake in Apple Inc. by 99.3%, holding only 120 shares after selling 17,383 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Several institutional investors have also made significant changes to their positions in Apple, indicating increased interest, with hedge funds owning 67.73% of the company's stock.
• Apple recently reported earnings exceeding analysts' expectations, with $1.57 EPS and revenues of $94.04 billion, leading to an authorization for a $100 billion share repurchase program.

Atala Financial Inc reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 99.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 17,383 shares during the quarter. Atala Financial Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its stake in Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.2%

AAPL traded up $9.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $206.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple 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.