Howard Bailey Securities LLC Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,347 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,693 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.4% of Howard Bailey Securities LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Howard Bailey Securities LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

AAPL traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $214.16. 25,198,720 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,032,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company's fifty day moving average price is $204.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.41. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.11.

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.