Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,512,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 120,582 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.6% of Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $586,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Align Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14,693.8% during the 3rd quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,024,330 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 5,983,608 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $172.57 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $176.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total transaction of $32,984.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,657 shares in the company, valued at $29,299,192.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.29.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.