Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Somerville Kurt F

Somerville Kurt F lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 138,709 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,942 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.8% of Somerville Kurt F's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Somerville Kurt F's holdings in Apple were worth $34,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after purchasing an additional 83,997 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. 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 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% 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 worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.45. The stock had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $201.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Apple 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.