Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. Has $24.87 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,971 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,313 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.4% of Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $24,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th 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 lifted its position in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 4.2%

Apple stock traded up $9.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,968,961. The company's 50-day moving average is $206.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.