Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Strategic Advisors LLC

Strategic Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,805 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 8.6% of Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $44,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $213.88. 38,805,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 49,464,392. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $204.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.58. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in 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 typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.