Tranquility Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,364 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.6% of Tranquility Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Tranquility Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
Apple Trading Up 4.2%
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $9.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $206.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also

Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.
While Apple currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering what the next stocks will be that hit it big, with solid fundamentals? Enter your email address to see which stocks MarketBeat analysts could become the next blockbuster growth stocks.
Get This Free Report