Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC Sells 5,277 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,413 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,277 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.6% of Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $54,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Allstate Corp grew its stake in Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.92 on Tuesday, hitting $214.40. 44,919,759 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,106,006. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $204.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.41. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. 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. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.11.

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.