TIAA Trust National Association Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

TIAA Trust National Association decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,837,386 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 54,772 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.4% of TIAA Trust National Association's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. TIAA Trust National Association's holdings in Apple were worth $460,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $3.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $203.77. The stock had a trading volume of 23,305,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,992,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $201.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.