Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC cut its stock position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,082 shares in the iPhone maker after selling 867 shares during the quarter. Apple owns approximately 7.0% of its stake in Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC, making it its largest holding. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s Apple holdings were valued at $6,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently increased or decreased their stakes in AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired approximately $28,000 worth of new Apple stock in the third quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC increased his position in Apple by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker, worth $31,000, after acquiring an additional 117 shares last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. expanded his position in Apple stock by 75.4% in the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased an additional 107 shares during the period and now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker, valued at $34,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in Apple stock by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased an additional 80 shares during the period and now owns 448 shares of iPhone maker stock worth $49,000. Finally, Align Wealth Management LLC acquired new shares of Apple stock worth approximately $55,000 during the fourth quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds hold 57.60% of the company’s shares.
Insider activity
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company in a deal on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76 for a total of $29,991,744.80. Following the closing of the sale, the Chief Operating Officer now owns 489,816 shares of the Company’s stock valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale is disclosed in his SEC filings, which are available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the company in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17 for a total of $9,261,412.24. Following the completion of the sale, the CEO now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company, valued at $541,766,188.84. The sale is disclosed in his SEC filings, which are available at this hyperlink. Chief operating officer (COO) Jeffrey E. Williams also sold 187,730 shares of the company in a trade on Wednesday, March 22. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76 for a total transaction value of $29,991,744.80. After the sale, the Chief Operating Officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. Disclosure information regarding this sale can be found here. In the past 90 days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of the company, worth $71,703,657. 0.06% of the shares are owned by corporate insiders.
Apple price performance
Nasdaq: AAPL opened Friday at $186.01. Apple hit a one-year low of $124.17 and a one-year high of $186.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, trades at 31.58x P/E, 2.45x P/E, and 1.29x beta. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $172.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.83. The company has a debt to equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4. The iPhone maker reported EPS of $1.52 for the quarter, beating consensus expectations of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple’s net margin was 24.49% and return on equity was 165.72%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion in the quarter, compared with consensus expectations of $92.84 billion. The company posted earnings per share of $1.52 in the year-ago quarter. The company’s quarterly sales fell 2.5% year-on-year. Equity analysts expect Apple to post earnings of $5.99 per share this year.
Apple announced Thursday that its board of directors approved a share buyback program that would allow $90 billion worth of share repurchases. The buyback authorization allows iPhone makers to buy back up to 3.4% of their shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that corporate management thinks their stock is undervalued.
Apple raises dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid out on Thursday, May 18. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15 were given a dividend of $0.24. This equates to his $0.96 dividend and his 0.52% dividend yield on an annualized basis. The ex-dividend date for this dividend was Friday, May 12. That’s a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.30%.
Wall Street analysts forecast growth
Several equity research analysts recently commented on the AAPL stock. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Apple stock to $190.00 from $185.00 in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. In a research note on Monday, April 17, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on Apple stock. 51Job reissued its rating on Apple stock as “maintain” in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Co. raised its price target on Apple stock to $210.00 from $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 6. Finally, KeyCorp raised his price target on Apple stock from $177.00 to $180.00, giving the stock an “overweight” rating in its research note on Friday, May 5. Two analysts gave the stock a “sell” rating, eight analysts gave it a “hold” rating, and 24 analysts gave it a “buy” rating. Based on MarketBeat data, the stock currently has a Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” and a Consensus Price Target of $177.40.
Apple company profile
(get rating)
Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories worldwide. The company offers a line of smartphones, the iPhone. Product line of Mac and personal computers. A series of iPads and multi-purpose tablets. Wearables, homes, and accessories consisting of AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.
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