Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 753,773 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,531 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.7% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $188,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted 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 buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $199.01. The company had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $203.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.