James J. Burns & Company LLC Has $3.18 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

James J. Burns & Company LLC cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 71.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,848 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 47,975 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.1% of James J. Burns & Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. James J. Burns & Company LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $3.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $189.98. 36,326,975 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,436,576. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.