Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,638 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,155 shares during the quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,368,000 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. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its position in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup dropped 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. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Melius Research lifted their price objective on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $210.62 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.46. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a PE 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last quarter. 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.