Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is US Asset Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

US Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,195 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 675 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.5% of US Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. US Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 287,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,118 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 293,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 31,446 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,392,000 after purchasing an additional 12,568 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 102,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,575,000 after purchasing an additional 45,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.0 %

Apple stock opened at $207.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given 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 yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.