Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Baxter Bros Inc.

Baxter Bros Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,222 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,918 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $4,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,992,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson lifted 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. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.65 on Tuesday, hitting $207.82. 78,634,226 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,588,359. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $202.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.53. 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.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm 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%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.