Affiance Financial LLC Sells 4,583 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Affiance Financial LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,063 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,583 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.4% of Affiance Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Affiance Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Apple by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after purchasing an additional 83,997 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $3.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $211.12. 40,786,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 58,052,727. The company's 50 day moving average is $203.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.

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.