Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $560,388,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $207.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.87 and a 200 day moving average of $184.81.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.38.

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.