Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,187 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,811 shares during the quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after buying an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,097,970,000 after buying an additional 1,155,915 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Apple by 13.1% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after buying an additional 8,230,300 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,874,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,779,544,000 after buying an additional 698,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 48,826,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,525,555,000 after purchasing an additional 424,839 shares in the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $175.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $176.39. The firm’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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.30%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,569,202.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 directly owns 136,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,569,202.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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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.