Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Exeter Financial LLC

Exeter Financial LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,123 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 735 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.6% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $221.55 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $221.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.