Broadleaf Partners LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Broadleaf Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,157 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,001 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.8% of Broadleaf Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Broadleaf Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $29,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $24,566,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,847,413,000 after acquiring an additional 674,991 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $201.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.02.

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 (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend 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 currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company'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 value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.