Field & Main Bank Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Field & Main Bank sold 2,185 shares of Apple Inc. in Q1, reducing its holdings by 2.9%, while maintaining a significant 5.8% of its portfolio in the company.
• Institutional investors control 67.73% of Apple’s stock, with notable increases in stakes from firms like Vanguard and UBS.
• Apple's Board has authorized a $100 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

Field & Main Bank reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,033 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,185 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.8% of Field & Main Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Field & Main Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $16,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during 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. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $6.78 during trading on Thursday, reaching $220.03. The stock had a trading volume of 88,530,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,598,227. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $205.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 2.13 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire 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 stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

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.