Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Cut by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,046 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,746 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.4% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.37. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.