One Day In July LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• One Day In July LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 3.7%, selling 1,551 shares, and now owns a total of 40,067 shares valued at approximately $8.9 million.
• Institutional investors hold around 67.73% of Apple's stock, with several firms, including First National Bank of Hutchinson and Brighton Jones LLC, increasing their stakes significantly in the last quarter.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57, exceeding expectations, and the company has authorized a $100 billion share repurchase program indicating confidence in its undervaluation.

One Day In July LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,067 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,551 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.9% of One Day In July LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. One Day In July LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $8,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $2.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $227.76. 42,431,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.96. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 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 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding 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 typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.