Albion Financial Group UT Has $78.77 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 354,594 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,419 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.6% of Albion Financial Group UT's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Albion Financial Group UT's holdings in Apple were worth $78,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $231.59. 56,003,275 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 63,552,584. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.69 and a 200 day moving average of $213.14.

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

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.