E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,091,118 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 77,429 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.4% of E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Apple were worth $242,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Foster Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 144,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,153,000 after acquiring an additional 5,645 shares in the last quarter. Fjell Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Fjell Capital LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 271,749 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,364,000 after purchasing an additional 83,423 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 391,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,032,000 after buying an additional 48,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 87,873 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,519,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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 value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend 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 is currently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.95.

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.