Peninsula Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Peninsula Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,006 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.5% of Peninsula Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Peninsula Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $12,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Up 2.5%

AAPL traded up $4.94 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $200.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,838,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,255,357. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $204.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.