Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,114,978 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 24,981 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.6% of Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings in Apple were worth $279,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple 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 now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Up 2.2%

Apple stock traded up $4.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $201.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $202.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.