Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 15,703 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA decreased its Apple Inc. holdings by 1.0%, selling 15,703 shares, while maintaining 1,485,904 shares valued at approximately $304 million, making Apple about 2.9% of their portfolio.
• Apple reported $1.57 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.43, with revenues reaching $94.04 billion, displaying a 9.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company's Board of Directors initiated a $100 billion share repurchase program, indicating that management believes its shares are undervalued, with quarterly dividends set at $0.26 per share.

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,485,904 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 15,703 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.9% of Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings in Apple were worth $304,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $2.56 on Tuesday, hitting $229.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 41,781,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,888,410. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $207.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

About Apple

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.