Financial Council LLC Sells 1,841 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Financial Council LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,436 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,841 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.8% of Financial Council LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Financial Council LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,348,025. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.41. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

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.