Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Johnson Financial Group LLC

Johnson Financial Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 59.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,634 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.1% of Johnson Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Johnson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Apple by 20.0% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $174.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.29.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $173.75 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $162.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.65. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $176.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.