Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Wright Investors Service Inc.'s Largest Position

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,154 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,351 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.4% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $16,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,360,608. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $202.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.03. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.39.

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.