McNamara Financial Services Inc. Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

McNamara Financial Services Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,558 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.3% of McNamara Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. McNamara Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 66,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,803,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. HTG Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. HTG Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Wealth Effects LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 95,838 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,452,000 after purchasing an additional 5,779 shares in the last quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC now owns 19,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,749,000 after buying an additional 6,986 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $200,137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $182.74 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.78. The company 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.