Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Reduced by Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 94,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 895 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 7.3% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake 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 valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $221.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.60. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $221.55.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.