Apple Inc. $AAPL is Birinyi Associates Inc.'s Largest Position

Key Points

• Birinyi Associates Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. by selling 8,874 shares, representing a 2.6% decrease, leaving them with 335,159 shares valued at $74.4 million.
• Multiple hedge funds acquired new positions in Apple, and currently, institutional investors hold 67.73% of the stock.
• Apple recently reported strong earnings with an EPS of $1.57, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share.

Birinyi Associates Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 335,159 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,874 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 24.0% of Birinyi Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $74,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $7.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.02. 40,885,420 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,657,605. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average is $216.99 and its 200 day moving average is $212.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.