Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by GEM Asset Management LLC

GEM Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,865 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,064 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.1% of GEM Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. GEM Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.7% during 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 buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% during 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 buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $213.76. 45,923,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,703,220. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $204.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.96. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

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, 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.