Goldstein Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Goldstein Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.1%, now holding 29,850 shares valued at approximately $6.63 million, making it the 19th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Apple announced a $100 billion share repurchase plan, indicating that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
• Apple recently reported earnings of $1.57 per share with revenues of $94.04 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year revenue increase.

Goldstein Advisors LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,850 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,280 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.0% of Goldstein Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Goldstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $9.32 on Friday, reaching $229.35. The stock had a trading volume of 113,661,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $206.84 and a 200 day moving average of $213.21. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

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.