Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Palisade Asset Management LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Palisade Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 6.2% during the first quarter, now holding 217,882 shares valued at approximately $48.4 million.
• Apple's annual dividend of $1.04 (yielding 0.5%) will be paid on August 14th to shareholders of record as of August 11th.
• The company's board has authorized a $100 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Palisade Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,882 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,341 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.0% of Palisade Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Palisade Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $48,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $204.14. The company had a trading volume of 7,744,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,777,820. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $205.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign 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.