Stanich Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stanich Group LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.1% of Stanich Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Stanich Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $211.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $204.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.