K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Sells 11,403 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,301 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,403 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 7.3% of K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $37,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $2.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $230.73. 31,276,517 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,842,020. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $209.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.37. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.