Symmetry Partners LLC Has $25.71 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,748 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 21,942 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.6% of Symmetry Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

AAPL stock opened at $202.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.