Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 552,787 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 44,998 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.7% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $122,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

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

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.