Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Sells 111,021 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 12.7% during the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $169.85 million.
• Apple declared a $0.26 quarterly dividend, an increase from the previous $0.25, and initiated a stock repurchase plan of up to $100 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have given Apple an average rating of "Moderate Buy", with a consensus target price of $234.94.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 764,653 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 111,021 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $169,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in 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 period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $209.05. 43,674,703 shares of the company traded hands, 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 stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company's fifty day moving average is $205.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.16. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.94.

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.