Neumann Capital Management LLC Has $17.39 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Neumann Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,266 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.0% of Neumann Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Neumann Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $208.62 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.50. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.