Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 1,820 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 299,847 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,820 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.2% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $66,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Apple by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 34,106 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,576,000 after buying an additional 2,248 shares during the last quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Apple by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 8,251 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Apple by 4.3% in the first quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 50,458 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the period. KWB Wealth boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 17,434 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,873,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 15.4% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 75,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,791,000 after acquiring an additional 10,102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.2%

Apple stock opened at $212.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.40.

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

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.

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