Martin Capital Advisors LLP Sells 4,036 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Martin Capital Advisors LLP reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 143,532 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,036 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 23.3% of Martin Capital Advisors LLP’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Martin Capital Advisors LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,815,594,000 after acquiring an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $487,435,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $189.87 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $174.13 and a 200-day moving average of $182.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 a boost 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 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized 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 repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.