Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC

Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,147 shares during the quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,766 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,843,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 426,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $73,041,000 after acquiring an additional 6,283 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 24,286 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,290,000 after acquiring an additional 6,173 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 128,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,977,000 after purchasing an additional 8,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 647.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 81,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,899,000 after purchasing an additional 70,308 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247,087 shares of company stock worth $44,016,111. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Down 1.6 %

AAPL stock opened at $210.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.31. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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.