Rockland Trust Co. decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,350 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,515 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.8% of Rockland Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Rockland Trust Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $56,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballew Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the first quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc now owns 8,247 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $545,091,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.4% in the first quarter. May Barnhard Investments LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its stake in Apple by 3.4% in the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 689,413 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $143,142,000 after acquiring an additional 22,407 shares during the period. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in Apple by 35.5% in the first quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 1,604 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.11.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Apple Price Performance
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $210.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,422,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,043,213. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $204.32 and a 200 day moving average of $216.12. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
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