Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Has $6.36 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 37,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 426 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.7% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its position in Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, 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 worth $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $221.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $195.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 have sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.