Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Smithfield Trust Co’s 6th Largest Position

Smithfield Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 278,073 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,065 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.5% of Smithfield Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $69,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,566,054,000 after buying an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $212.33 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $206.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. 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. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.