Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,352,422 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 302,281 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.6% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $338,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,346,239 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $837,965,000 after acquiring an additional 718,547 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Apple by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 312,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $78,235,000 after buying an additional 7,937 shares during the period. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $4,897,000. Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $5,986,000. Finally, Holcombe Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $22,779,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

AAPL opened at $196.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average is $223.10. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple 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.