Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 274 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.9% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th 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. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Raymond James increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.63.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $227.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.