Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL

Key Points

• Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 7.6%, owning 22,242 shares valued at approximately $4.94 million, making it the firm's 19th largest holding.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their positions in Apple, with First National Bank of Hutchinson raising its stake by 24.6% during the fourth quarter.
• Apple's recent earnings report beat analyst expectations, posting a revenue of $94.04 billion and a 24.30% net margin, alongside a declared quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share.

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,242 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,820 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.9% of Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL's holdings in Apple were worth $4,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in 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 grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in 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. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% in 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. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $240.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.70 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $222.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.99. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.