Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Avalon Trust Co

Avalon Trust Co lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 459,823 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,985 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 8.2% of Avalon Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Avalon Trust Co's holdings in Apple were worth $115,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of 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. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $4.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,838,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,255,357. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $204.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.71. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.