Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Smithfield Trust Co

Smithfield Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 278,073 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,065 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.5% of Smithfield Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Smithfield Trust Co's holdings in Apple were worth $69,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $211.45. The stock had a trading volume of 43,910,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,930,688. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $206.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.