New England Research & Management Inc. Has $7.66 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,502 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,318 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.9% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

AAPL opened at $210.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $204.32 and its 200-day moving average is $216.12. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.11.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade 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 currently owned by corporate 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.