Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Montgomery Investment Management Inc.

Montgomery Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 64,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.8% of Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after buying an additional 24,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. 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. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $184.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $172.20 and its 200-day moving average is $181.79. 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Apple Company 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.