D Orazio & Associates Inc. Sells 1,534 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,534 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.4% of D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $204.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.61. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS 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 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.