Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,773 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $19,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111,858 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 119,262 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $29,866,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. R.H. Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,375,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 3,926 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,712,000 after buying an additional 2,329 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.39.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,360,608. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.03. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.