Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Byrne Asset Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Byrne Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,347 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,556 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Byrne Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Destiny Capital Corp CO bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $229,000. Matauro LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Matauro LLC now owns 33,917 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,534,000 after buying an additional 6,941 shares in the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 29,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,611,000 after buying an additional 5,977 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 132,832 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,506,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kelly Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 278.2% in the 1st quarter. Kelly Financial Group LLC now owns 32,281 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,171,000 after purchasing an additional 23,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $210.02 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.12. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. 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 firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership 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.