Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Unique Wealth LLC

Unique Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,874 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,723 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.9% of Unique Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Unique Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.95.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.