Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s 4th Largest Position

Forbes J M & Co. LLP decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 240,712 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,246 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.5% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. 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 note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.29.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $214.10 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

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.