SlateStone Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,745 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,136 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.5% of SlateStone Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $55,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,948,008 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $333,518,000 after acquiring an additional 186,290 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 287,952 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,300,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. raised its position in Apple by 4.5% in the third quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 23,267 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Truefg LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.4% in the third quarter. Truefg LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Investment Advisors increased its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 368,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $63,089,000 after purchasing an additional 7,788 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $224.90. 25,147,992 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 64,596,133. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $225.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $196.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.