Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Trimmed by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,641,306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 49,219 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.9% of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,030,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s 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 trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $212.48 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $204.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication 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.