Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. by 44.1% in Q1, now holding 1,800 shares valued at $400,000.
• A number of other institutional investors adjusted their holdings, with Heartland Bank & Trust Co increasing its stake by 20.6%, now owning 62,844 shares worth $13.96 million.
• Apple's board has approved a $100 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,800 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,420 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $5.19 during midday trading 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.17. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $205.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.77. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week 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 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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 paid 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 is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Company 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.