Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Cut by Hamel Associates Inc.

Hamel Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,437 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,773 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.2% of Hamel Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Hamel Associates Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $19,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $198.53. The stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,093,894. The firm's 50 day moving average is $208.09 and its 200 day moving average is $227.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.