Founders Capital Management LLC Sells 229 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Founders Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.7% of Founders Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Founders Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 107,436 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,423,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 33,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,711,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its position in shares of Apple by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 23,188 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,976,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,410 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,080,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 74.7% during the 1st quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $10.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $183.38. The stock had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The company’s 50 day moving average is $172.17 and its 200-day moving average is $181.60. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.00.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.