Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Has $4.68 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,558 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.4% of Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the first quarter. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Noven Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Noven Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,396 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 4,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Cordasco Financial Network increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Cordasco Financial Network now owns 3,184 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC now owns 18,345 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,124,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.13% of the company’s stock.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ AAPL) traded up 1.39% during trading on Friday, hitting $157.48. The stock had a trading volume of 26,257,096 shares. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.00. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.53 and a 12-month high of $161.83. The company has a market capitalization of $813.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 1.31. Apple also saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 139,415 put options on the company. This is an increase of 119% compared to the average volume of 63,733 put options.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.94 billion. Apple had a net margin of 20.87% and a return on equity of 35.40%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post $9.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. UBS AG reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 31st. Bank of America Corporation reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $155.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Saturday, July 22nd. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.35.

In other Apple news, insider Craig Federighi sold 63,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.07, for a total value of $9,984,175.41. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 359,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,903,303.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.58, for a total transaction of $5,515,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,168,283 shares in the company, valued at $184,098,035.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 299,911 shares of company stock worth $46,557,634. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

Apple Inc (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings.