Cincinnati Financial Corp Sells 22,500 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Cincinnati Financial Corp has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 0.8%, now holding approximately 2.8 million shares, which represents about 13.9% of its overall portfolio valued at $624 million.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings highlighted a 9.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, reporting $94.04 billion and $1.57 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, which was paid out to shareholders, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Cincinnati Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,809,516 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 22,500 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 13.9% of Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $624,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

AAPL stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. 54,829,143 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $219.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.