Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Sells 5,359 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 150,532 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,359 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.4% of Gryphon Financial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $37,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.33. The stock had a trading volume of 49,235,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,017,431. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company's 50-day moving average price is $207.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.09.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.