Synergy Investment Management LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Synergy Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,957 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,078 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.98.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.