Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Sinecera Capital LLC

Sinecera Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,837 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Sinecera Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Sinecera Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th 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. grew its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Melius Research raised their price target on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $221.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $195.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.85. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $221.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Company 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.