Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by S&CO Inc.

S&CO Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 273,083 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 18,656 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.6% of S&CO Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $68,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Carrera Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Apple by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 10,367 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405 shares during the last quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 135,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $31,655,000 after buying an additional 2,684 shares during the period. Live Oak Investment Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the third quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners now owns 12,300 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,866,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the third quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 216,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $50,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 34,856 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,121,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $206.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.

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