Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Has $174.03 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 694,957 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,715 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.3% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $174,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 126,900 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $31,778,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 64,229 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178 shares during the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 39,901 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,992,000 after purchasing an additional 4,127 shares during the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 28,299 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,050,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $2.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $212.93. The company had a trading volume of 51,637,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,107,660. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $207.59 and a 200 day moving average of $227.19. 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 quarterly 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

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.