Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by Hendershot Investments Inc.

Hendershot Investments Inc. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,953 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,021 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.6% of Hendershot Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $42,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented 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 report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $181.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. 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 $199.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.72.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.93%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board 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.