Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 3,191 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,596 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,191 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.1% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Apple were worth $78,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Apple by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

AAPL stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. The company had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,305,937. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $203.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.20. 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 released 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

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.