Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 7,369 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dearborn Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 586,170 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,369 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.2% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $146,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Apple by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $876,483,000 after buying an additional 103,856 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $205.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.