Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 29,371 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,129,692 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 29,371 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.2% of Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Apple were worth $1,361,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. 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 price of $203.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.27.

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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