Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lessened by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,652,126 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,975 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.3% of HM Payson & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $214,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Align Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Atlantic Securities increased their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.74.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $175.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $176.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. Apple’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.30%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $7,215,515.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,569,202.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $7,215,515.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,569,202.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.