Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 375,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 57,572 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $53,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 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. Cordasco Financial Network increased its position in 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. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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. Finally, Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 24,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,501,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.50% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 1.50% on Monday, reaching $159.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,093,356 shares. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.53 and a 12-month high of $161.83. The company has a market cap of $825.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $149.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.27.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.94 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 35.40% and a net margin of 20.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post $9.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.64%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
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A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $175.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Longbow Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Vetr upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.48 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated a “” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Finally, Drexel Hamilton restated a “buy” rating and issued a $208.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $167.35.
In related news, SVP Johny Srouji sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.20, for a total value of $1,532,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 96,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,820,261.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Riccio sold 11,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.27, for a total value of $1,855,321.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,998 shares in the company, valued at $3,726,169.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,911 shares of company stock worth $46,557,634 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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.
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