Milestone Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Milestone Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 42.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,287 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 25,644 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.6% of Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered 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. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $2.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $207.82. The company had a trading volume of 78,634,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,588,359. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.85 and a 200-day moving average of $219.53. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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 paid 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 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.