Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's Largest Position

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,641,306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 49,219 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,030,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $0.80 on Friday, reaching $214.56. 7,019,281 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,507,688. The company's 50-day moving average price is $204.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.96. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.11.

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.