Stonehearth Capital Management LLC Has $2.34 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stonehearth Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.1% of Stonehearth Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $214.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $186.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.57. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.