Marco Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Marco Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,316 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,830 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.9% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $211.26 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $206.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.