Aua Capital Management LLC Sells 2,100 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aua Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.7% of Aua Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Aua Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $560,388,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.25 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $189.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio 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.