Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 89.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,852 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 79,964 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.6% of Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 271,749 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $60,364,000 after buying an additional 83,423 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 391,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,032,000 after buying an additional 48,783 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group grew its holdings in Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 87,873 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $19,519,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 34,106 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,576,000 after buying an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Finally, ACT Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 8,251 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,833,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company'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 value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Down 1.7%
Shares of AAPL traded down $3.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $209.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,065,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,581,624. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.13. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.95.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
About Apple
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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.
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