Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,177,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 141,210 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.1% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,189,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp lifted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.80 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

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.