Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,908 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,754 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 10.0% of Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $40,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 10,061,591 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,344,351,000 after buying an additional 332,081 shares in the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,981 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,510,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 277,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $64,709,000 after buying an additional 126,522 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 128,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $29,994,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 74,175 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $17,283,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $3.89 on Wednesday, hitting $198.78. 60,780,621 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,606,411. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $200.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 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 analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.