Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by Perennial Advisors LLC

Perennial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,020 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,801 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.5% of Perennial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Perennial Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $27,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,392,190. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $203.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. DA Davidson upped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.27.

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.