Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc.

Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,078 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 111 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.9% of Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.5% during the third quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,142 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 18.0% during the third quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,277 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 152,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,083,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 33.0% during the third quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,458 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marion Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the third quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 35,311 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $182.74 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays increased their price objective on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

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.