Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL – Get a rating) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor held 72,645 shares of the iPhone maker after selling 5,321 shares during the period. Apple represents 9.0% of Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,979,000 when it last filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also changed their stock holdings. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Apple in Q3 valued at around $28,000. St. James Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings of Apple shares by 98.3% during the 4th quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker worth $31,000 after acquiring 117 additional shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple shares by 75.4% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker worth $34,000 after acquiring 107 additional shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in Apple by 21.7% in Q1. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker valued at $49,000 after buying 80 more shares in the last quarter. Finally, Align Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in Q4 worth around $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.89% of the company’s shares.
Apple shares down 0.6%
Action AAPL opened at $183.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a price/earnings ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty-day moving average price is $174.02 and its two-hundred-day moving average price is $155.98. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $186.99.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL – Get a rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4. The iPhone maker reported earnings per share of $1.52 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company posted revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, versus analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted earnings per share of $1.52. Apple’s revenue fell 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, stock analysts expect Apple Inc. to post earnings per share of 5.99 for the current year.
Apple announced that its board of directors launched a stock repurchase plan on Thursday (May 4) that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding stock. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans usually indicate that the company’s board of directors believe its stock is undervalued.
Apple increases its dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15 received a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a dividend of $0.96 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.30%.
Insider trading at Apple
In other Apple news, CFO Luke Masters sold 200 shares of the company in a trade on Thursday, April 6. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total value of $32,984.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the CFO now owns 177,657 shares of the company, valued at approximately $29,299,192.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, accessible via the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luke Masters sold 200 shares of the company in a transaction dated Thursday, April 6. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total value of $32,984.00. Following the sale, the CFO now owns 177,657 shares of the company, valued at approximately $29,299,192.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, accessible via this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E.Williams sold 77,817 shares of the company in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 4. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total value of $12,926,181.87. Following the transaction, the COO now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company, valued at $81,363,335.76. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,799 shares of the company valued at $41,711,912 in the past ninety days. 0.06% of the shares are held by insiders of the company.
Analyst upgrades and downgrades
Several research companies have recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target on Apple shares from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a Friday, May 5 research report. Needham & Company LLC raised its target price on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised its price target on Apple from $174.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a Friday, May 5 research report. Canaccord Genuity Group raised its target price on Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a Friday, May 5 research report. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its price target on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a Friday, May 5 research report. Two analysts gave the stock a sell rating, eight gave the company a hold rating and twenty-four gave the company a buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.40.
About Apple
Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a range of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a range of versatile tablets; and wearables, home and accessories including AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats and HomePod products.
Further reading
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