Carlson Capital Management Sells 39,955 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Carlson Capital Management trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 50.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 39,955 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.3% of Carlson Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Melius Research upped their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. 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 ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25.

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. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase 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 currently 15.55%.

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