Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,627 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.8% of AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $202.38 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $205.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Apple

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.