Saybrook Capital NC Sells 1,440 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Saybrook Capital NC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 165,307 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 11.1% of Saybrook Capital NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Saybrook Capital NC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

AAPL stock opened at $211.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.67.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.