Fulton Bank N.A. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fulton Bank N.A. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 278,270 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,509 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.5% of Fulton Bank N.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Fulton Bank N.A.'s holdings in Apple were worth $61,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $4.62 on Wednesday, reaching $212.44. The company had a trading volume of 67,874,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,627,933. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $203.01 and its 200 day moving average is $219.45.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

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.