Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $67.45 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,645 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,573 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $67,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $231.59. 56,003,275 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 63,552,584. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

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.