Bluesphere Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bluesphere Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 60.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,658 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 13,380 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.1% of Bluesphere Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Bluesphere Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $10.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $213.12. The company had a trading volume of 102,898,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,348,797. The company has a fifty day moving average of $205.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple declared that its board has approved 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 often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.25.

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.