Financial Partners Group LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,212 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.6% of Financial Partners Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Financial Partners Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.94.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Apple
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Apple Stock Performance
AAPL stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $214.05. 37,786,671 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,818,408. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $204.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
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