J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,217 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,033 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.7% of J. W. Coons Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $29,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.25.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded down $7.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $205.35. 100,891,435 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,620,753. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.