Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,241,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 77,727 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.4% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $310,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,992,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded down $2.75 on Friday, reaching $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.