Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC Sells 104 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,450 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.3% of Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 14,395.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Apple by 3.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

AAPL traded up $10.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. 163,224,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase 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 is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.93%.

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