Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Sells 8,721 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 185,630 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,721 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 13.4% of Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 949,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $162,621,000 after buying an additional 57,418 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services boosted its stake in Apple by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 3,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 169,493 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,019,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,158,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $198,307,000 after purchasing an additional 7,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $221.55 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $221.55. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $194.21 and its 200-day moving average is $185.60. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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 fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Melius Research increased their target price on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.