Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,367 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,311 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.4% of Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 83,965 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, July 4th. One research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.43.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.54 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $233.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple Company 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.