Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,573 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $67,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.78 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $209.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.