Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by First City Capital Management Inc.

First City Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,766 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,878 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.2% of First City Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. First City Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL remained flat at $210.01 during trading on Wednesday. 4,254,040 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,502,129. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. 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 twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $203.32 and a 200 day moving average of $218.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.