Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lowered by Eagle Capital Management LLC

Eagle Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,527 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,498 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.2% of Eagle Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Eagle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Apple by 4.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after purchasing an additional 287,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last three months. 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.