Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $59.53 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,012 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,630 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.1% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $59,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $213.36. The company had a trading volume of 34,955,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,594,994. 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 $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day moving average is $203.35 and its 200 day moving average is $218.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.