Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Lessened by Hartline Investment Corp

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 3.4% in Q1, now holding 253,665 shares worth approximately $56.35 million.
• Apple announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, with a 0.5% yield, reflecting a 15.78% dividend payout ratio.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 9.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, with $1.57 EPS surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.43.

Hartline Investment Corp lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 253,665 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,860 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 7.5% of Hartline Investment Corp's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $56,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $2.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,431,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $212.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.98.

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.