Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Blankinship & Foster LLC

Blankinship & Foster LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 88.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,622 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 192,665 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.5% of Blankinship & Foster LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Blankinship & Foster LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,681,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Apple by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,809,212 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,301,966,000 after acquiring an additional 368,114 shares during the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,972 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $32,047,000 after acquiring an additional 15,446 shares during the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 199.0% in the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,011 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,527,000 after acquiring an additional 116,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 272,983 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $68,360,000 after acquiring an additional 7,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Apple stock traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $208.78. 45,304,005 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,954,362. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $206.09 and a 200 day moving average of $226.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple Company Profile

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.