25,999 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Acquired by First Financial Group Corp

First Financial Group Corp acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 25,999 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,511,000. Apple accounts for 7.2% of First Financial Group Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 3.0%

AAPL traded down $6.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $195.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 78,299,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,255,650. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $205.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.