Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,331 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.6% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 247,087 shares of company stock valued at $44,016,111. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $220.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Apple

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.