Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Marmo Financial Group LLC

Marmo Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.2% of Marmo Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Marmo Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its position in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its position in Apple by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $941,420.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.02 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $204.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.12. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.