Sterling Investment Management LLC Has $2.81 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,651 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,891 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.0% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.27.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $208.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $203.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.50. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.