Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. Sells 90,912 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 503,573 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 90,912 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.1% of Meitav Dash Investments Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $65,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,097,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,915 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Apple by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after buying an additional 8,230,300 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,874,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,779,544,000 after buying an additional 698,686 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 48,826,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,525,555,000 after buying an additional 424,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $175.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.84 and a 200-day moving average of $150.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $176.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.30%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.74.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total value of $12,926,181.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,363,335.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Profile

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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.