Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,450 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.3% of Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 900.1% in the 3rd quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,602,000 after acquiring an additional 266,003 shares during the last quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. now owns 36,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,245,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $10.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.38. The stock had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average of $181.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 target price (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.00.

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.