Global Thematic Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Global Thematic Partners LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 48.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 598,732 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 564,815 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.9% of Global Thematic Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Global Thematic Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $86,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Glacier Peak Capital LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Welch Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $146,000. Odey Holdings AG raised its position in shares of Apple by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Odey Holdings AG now owns 1,273 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.50% of the company’s stock.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) opened at 159.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $825.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.31. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.53 and a 52-week high of $161.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $150.31 and its 200-day moving average is $144.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. Apple had a return on equity of 35.40% and a net margin of 20.87%. The company had revenue of $45.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post $9.02 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Vetr downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $164.97 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Longbow Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated a “” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Drexel Hamilton reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $167.33.

In other news, SVP Johny Srouji sold 10,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.20, for a total transaction of $1,532,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 96,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,820,261.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Riccio sold 11,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.86, for a total value of $1,707,034.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 287,962 shares of company stock valued at $44,702,313. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company Profile

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.