Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Reduced by General Partner Inc.

General Partner Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,248 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,875 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 10.5% of General Partner Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. General Partner Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $16,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.26 on Wednesday, hitting $201.56. 39,442,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,445,313. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $202.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.