First Foundation Advisors Has $69.51 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• First Foundation Advisors reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.6%, selling 15,173 shares, which left them with 312,919 shares valued at approximately $69.5 million.
• Apple's stock recently traded at $239.69, with analysts expecting a 7.28 earnings per share for the current year after a reported EPS of $1.57 that beat estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing a dividend yield of 0.4%, with an annualized payout of $1.04.

First Foundation Advisors trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 312,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 15,173 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.8% of First Foundation Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $69,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,829,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $219.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.64.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.05.

Apple 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.