TPG Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

TPG Advisors LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,223 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.5% of TPG Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. TPG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,501,000 after buying an additional 34,414 shares during the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 32.9% in the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $4,972,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.53 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.38. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.