Perennial Advisors LLC Has $22.29 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Perennial Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.2% of Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.0 %

Apple stock opened at $207.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The stock 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.38.

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.