Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC Sells 992 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,819 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 992 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% during 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 buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price objective on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.25 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $189.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.