Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Trimmed by NS Partners Ltd

NS Partners Ltd trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 578,790 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,886 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.0% of NS Partners Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. NS Partners Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $144,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,335,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $2.48 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $208.78. 45,304,005 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,954,362. The stock's 50 day moving average is $206.09 and its 200-day moving average is $226.67. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given 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 yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.