Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 13,749 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,428 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 13,749 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.7% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,477,308. The stock's 50-day moving average is $202.52 and its 200-day moving average is $220.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.39.

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.