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

Cowa LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.7% of Cowa LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,076 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 16,091 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Adaptive Financial Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Adaptive Financial Consulting LLC now owns 2,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the first quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $184.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $186.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. 51job reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, 58.com reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.86.

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.