Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by GEN Financial Management INC.

GEN Financial Management INC. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. GEN Financial Management INC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $209.11 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $203.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.45. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change 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%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’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 directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.