Colonial River Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Colonial River Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,246 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.1% of Colonial River Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. St. James Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 98.3% in the 4th quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, Sonnipe Ltd acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $104,000. 58.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $187.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $198.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $186.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. StockNews.com started coverage on Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. 58.com restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Ten investment 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.