Seed Wealth Management Inc. Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Seed Wealth Management Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.6% of Seed Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Seed Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC now owns 70,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,020,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 112,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,249,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Colorado Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 7.5% in the first quarter. Colorado Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,820 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 225,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its stake in shares of Apple by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 22,671 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised 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. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $221.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $221.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $195.26 and a 200 day moving average of $185.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. 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 Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 over the last 90 days. 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.