Jackson Square Capital LLC Sells 38,580 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Jackson Square Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,158 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 38,580 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.5% of Jackson Square Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $204.32 and a 200-day moving average price 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 (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 analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.