Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Northside Capital Management LLC

Northside Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 522 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.1% of Northside Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Northside Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benin Management CORP increased its position in Apple by 1.7% during the first quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 129,689 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,808,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares in the last quarter. Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 9.1% in the first quarter. Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. now owns 38,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,541,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares during the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 150.8% in the 1st quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 57,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,881,000 after purchasing an additional 34,868 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 4.4% during the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 9,843 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 119,615 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,570,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $207.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.