Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 150,829 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,270 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 11.8% of Sandbox Financial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $33,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $213.36 on Friday. 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 $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $203.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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