PFS Partners LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PFS Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.0% of PFS Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. PFS Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.85. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $221.55. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase 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 is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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. Insiders have sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple 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.