REAP Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

REAP Financial Group LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,712 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 892 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of REAP Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. REAP Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $202.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.71.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

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.