Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Has $10.68 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,082 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,755 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.6% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $10,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp boosted its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after purchasing an additional 83,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $213.36. 34,955,836 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,618,682. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $203.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

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.