Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,544 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,805 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.8% of Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.63.

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.