Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by Cincinnati Financial Corp

Cincinnati Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,832,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 86,437 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 15.5% of Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $709,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued 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, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.02.

Apple Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.92. The stock had a trading volume of 46,477,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 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.