Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 1,272 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,272 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.2% of Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the third quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 221,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $37,991,000 after buying an additional 7,829 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 253,604 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,420,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Apple by 7.5% in the third quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 7,565 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in Apple by 92.0% in the third quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 5,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 2,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 673,278 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,272,000 after buying an additional 10,890 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price objective (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.71.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $4.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $186.88. 50,946,430 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,982,605. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.93. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Apple’s payout ratio is 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.