Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,882 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,577 shares during the period. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $20,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $232.91. The stock had a trading volume of 37,584,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,933,523. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Company 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.