Scharf Investments LLC Has $2.81 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Scharf Investments LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,397 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,226 shares during the quarter. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $221.55 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $221.55. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $195.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. 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 prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

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.