Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 977,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 17,915 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 7.6% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $217,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.27.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.41. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. 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%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.