Triangle Securities Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,088 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,113 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.6% of Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,981,000. Main Street Research LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 330,777 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,632,000 after acquiring an additional 60,400 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 110,855 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,979,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 40,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,934,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 167,322 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,647,000 after buying an additional 11,591 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.83.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $208.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $220.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $188.57 and a 200 day moving average of $184.85.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was 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 owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was 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 owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.