Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Petra Financial Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Petra Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple by 34%, selling 1,624 shares and now owning 3,155 shares, valued at approximately $701,000.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Apple, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its holdings by over 25,900% during the first quarter.
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.26 per share and initiated a share repurchase plan of up to $100 billion, signaling confidence in its valuation.

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 34.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,624 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $2.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $209.05. The company had a trading volume of 43,674,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $205.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. 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 announced its 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. 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 payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

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.