Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Alta Capital Management LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Alta Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 467,939 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 17,030 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 7.0% of Alta Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $117,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $212.33. The stock had a trading volume of 49,235,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,032,102. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $207.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.