Annex Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Annex Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 194,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,531 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.2% of Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Apple by 3.6% during the fourth 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. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 247,087 shares of company stock worth $44,016,111 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $210.62 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $192.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush raised their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Melius Research increased their price target on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.