Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $196.06 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 782,908 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 30,919 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.0% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $196,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GR Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. GR Financial Group LLC now owns 11,407 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 4,512,899 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,130,120,000 after acquiring an additional 25,274 shares in the last quarter. James Reed Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,264,000. Finally, NBW Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 84,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,232,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Wedbush lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.60 on Wednesday, reaching $212.33. 49,235,970 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,032,102. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $207.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 is a boost 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 currently 16.20%.

About Apple

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.