Strong Tower Advisory Services Has $8.95 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 21.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,277 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,773 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.1% of Strong Tower Advisory Services' portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in Apple were worth $8,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought 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 during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.39.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $4.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $205.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 91,511,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,513,950. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $202.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.83. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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 was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.