Blume Capital Management Inc. Sells 582 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Blume Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,765 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 582 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.6% of Blume Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $205.04 and a 200-day moving average of $225.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective 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. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.