Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 612,212 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,207,352 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 612,212 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 7.3% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,804,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.7% in the third quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,681 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 241,004 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $55,614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Visionary Horizons LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 5,125 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,362,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $4.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $194.21. The company had a trading volume of 35,841,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,061,588. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.13. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.