Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Cut by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 311,218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,093 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.5% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $77,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. 5th Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 32.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,905,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $4,972,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AAPL opened at $211.45 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $206.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple 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.