Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by RWWM Inc.

RWWM Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,750 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.2% of RWWM Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. RWWM Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SFM LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 249,193 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $55,353,000 after buying an additional 4,804 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 7.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 94,972 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,096,000 after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the period. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 56.0% during the first quarter. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,679 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 4,551 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 61,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,562,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.11.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.61. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% 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.

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.