Michael S. Ryan Inc. Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Michael S. Ryan Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,545 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 432 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.0% of Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Cfra upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.63.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.44. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.