Apple Inc. $AAPL is Cincinnati Financial Corp’s Largest Position

Cincinnati Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,809,516 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 22,500 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 13.9% of Cincinnati Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cincinnati Financial Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $624,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.89. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. 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 business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.