Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Crew Capital Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Crew Capital Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.8%, selling 1,370 shares, and currently holds 27,423 shares worth approximately $6.09 million.
• Apple recently announced a $100 billion share buyback plan, indicating that its leadership believes the stock may be undervalued.
• In its latest quarterly report, Apple beat analysts' earnings expectations with a EPS of $1.57 and a revenue of $94.04 billion, reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year increase.

Crew Capital Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,423 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,370 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.0% of Crew Capital Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Crew Capital Management Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $6,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.98.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $2.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.76. 42,431,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $212.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.96.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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.