Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by Talbot Financial LLC

Talbot Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 366,370 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,618 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 10.2% of Talbot Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Talbot Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $81,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 187,175 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $41,577,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 80,367 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $17,852,000 after buying an additional 2,345 shares in the last quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,297 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,618,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 3,450,234 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $766,400,000 after buying an additional 172,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hardin Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,330 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,360,608. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. 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 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.