Successful Portfolios LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Successful Portfolios LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,888 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.7% of Successful Portfolios LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $233.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

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

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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, July 4th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.43.

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.