Giverny Capital Inc. Has $2.08 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Giverny Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 44.8%, selling 7,609 shares, leaving them with 9,367 shares worth approximately $2.08 million.
• Apple's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57, exceeding forecasts, with revenue rising 9.6% year-over-year to $94.04 billion.
• Recent analyst upgrades have set varying price targets for Apple, with Goldman Sachs maintaining a "buy" rating and a price target of $266.00.

Giverny Capital Inc. lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 44.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,367 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,609 shares during the period. Giverny Capital Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $2,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $4.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $234.07. 55,768,555 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 45,223,864. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $221.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $240.80.

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.