Unison Asset Management LLC Has $4.61 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Unison Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 30%, resulting in ownership of 20,755 shares valued at approximately $4.61 million, making it Apple's 16th largest holding.
• Apple announced a stock buyback program allowing the repurchase of up to $100 billion in shares, reflecting the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share was declared, with an ex-dividend date set for August 11, 2023, resulting in a 0.5% dividend yield.

Unison Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,755 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,901 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.7% of Unison Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Unison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $9.32 on Friday, reaching $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $206.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.21.

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 (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 business 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 earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued 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 is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.