Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Hanson & Doremus Investment Management

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.1% of Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.72.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.