Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Reduced by CNB Bank

Key Points

• CNB Bank reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.8%, now holding 53,738 shares valued at approximately $11.94 million, making Apple its largest holding.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., significantly increased their stakes in Apple during the last quarter, reflecting strong institutional interest.
• Apple's Board of Directors has initiated a $100 billion stock repurchase plan, which typically indicates that leadership believes the stock is undervalued.

CNB Bank decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,738 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,729 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.0% of CNB Bank's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. CNB Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $11,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other 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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $9.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $229.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 113,661,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company's 50-day moving average is $206.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication 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.