Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Abacus Planning Group Inc.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,157 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,500 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.4% of Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. 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 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple 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.