Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,324,689 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,361 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.6% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $227,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aspen Investment Management Inc increased its position in Apple by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc now owns 18,840 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,231,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Plan Group Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 47.7% during the first quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 6,441 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares in the last quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 116,931 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,051,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 329,490 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,501,000 after buying an additional 22,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 16,868 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $230.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $233.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $203.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.43.

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.