Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Reduced by First Hawaiian Bank

Key Points

• First Hawaiian Bank reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 87.7% in the first quarter, decreasing its holdings to 16,205 shares valued at approximately $3.6 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Jones Financial Companies, boosted their positions in Apple, with Jones Financial increasing its stake by 31.6%, now owning over 1.9 million shares.
• Analysts suggest a moderate buy consensus for Apple, with a price target of $240.80, influenced by various ratings from research firms like Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

First Hawaiian Bank trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 87.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,205 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 115,753 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $3,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AAPL traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $238.15. 63,364,012 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 45,474,312. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $222.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.77.

Apple 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.