RJA Asset Management LLC Sells 86,300 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

RJA Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,485,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 86,300 shares during the period. Apple comprises 86.4% of RJA Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. RJA Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $254,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $221.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.85. 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 released its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple 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 sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.