Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,276 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,393 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.0% of Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $8,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $2.25 on Wednesday, hitting $196.26. 67,172,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,184,954. The firm's 50 day moving average is $210.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.13. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.