Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,257 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,956 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.1% of Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $16,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $240.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $229.88. 27,882,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,750,219. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $220.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.