Sage Investment Advisers LLC Has $1.78 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sage Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.0% of Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $221.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.60. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board 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 purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple Company Profile

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.