Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lowered by Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 381,122 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,909 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.6% of Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP's holdings in Apple were worth $84,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 1.8%

AAPL stock traded down $4.2250 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $226.3350. The stock had a trading volume of 21,412,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,531,371. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $210.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.