Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Modus Advisors LLC

Modus Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,008 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.1% of Modus Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Modus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $214.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $185.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.36. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.06.

About Apple

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.