Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's Largest Position

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,704 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,350 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.9% of K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $43,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $87,501,000 after buying an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank grew its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $30,905,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % 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 worth $41,760,140 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded down $2.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $196.26. 67,172,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,100,768. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $210.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.