Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by M3 Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• M3 Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 9.8%, holding $3.51 million worth of stock after selling 1,721 shares in the first quarter.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations, reporting $1.57 EPS and $94.04 billion in revenue, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a $0.26 quarterly dividend, with a payout ratio of 15.78%, and plans a substantial stock repurchase program amounting to $100 billion.

M3 Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,804 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,721 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.8% of M3 Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. M3 Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.5%

AAPL traded down $5.19 on Friday, reaching $202.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 97,423,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $205.37 and its 200 day moving average is $213.60. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.17.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 172.48% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.