Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Decreased by Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 499,288 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 12,711 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.4% of Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $125,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 4,538 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 5,720,987 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,442,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,187 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 1,663,544 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $416,585,000 after purchasing an additional 7,531 shares during the period. Telemark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $10,017,000. Finally, Tredje AP fonden grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 3,035,544 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $760,161,000 after purchasing an additional 54,198 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of AAPL traded down $6.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $195.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 78,299,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,177,224. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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's 50 day moving average is $205.39 and its 200 day moving average is $226.12.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.