Geneva Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Geneva Partners LLC sold 61,096 shares of Apple Inc., decreasing its holdings by 92.9% to just 4,682 shares, valued at approximately $1,040,000.
• Institutional investors currently own 67.73% of Apple's stock, with notable changes including Allstate Corp's significant increase of 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter.
• Apple Inc. recently announced a $100 billion stock repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting its ongoing financial strength.

Geneva Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 92.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 61,096 shares during the period. Geneva Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $2.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $232.99. 20,569,050 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,837,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $214.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.05.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

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.