Hoey Investments Inc. Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hoey Investments Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,399 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.8% of Hoey Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Hoey Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $211.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.85. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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 owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents 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 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.