Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 24,981 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,114,978 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 24,981 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.6% of Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Apple were worth $279,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the 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 represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $201.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

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.