Ithaka Group LLC Has $25.64 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ithaka Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,033 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.7% of Ithaka Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,566,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $195.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $205.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price 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. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

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.