Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA holds $119.64 million in Apple Inc. stock, representing 8.2% of their portfolio, after a 2.6% decrease during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Apple, with a consensus target price of $237.98 and varying recommendations including "buy" and "hold" from several market firms.
• Apple recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share and announced a significant stock repurchase plan authorizing up to $100 billion in shares, reflecting confidence in the stock's value.

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 538,414 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,339 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 8.2% of Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA's holdings in Apple were worth $119,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $147,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Apple Stock Up 1.3%

AAPL traded up $2.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $227.76. 42,431,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average is $212.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.96. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.