Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Nelson Capital Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Nelson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,935 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.1% of Nelson Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Nelson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $25,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 58,160 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,551,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Optas LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 77,407 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,601 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 82,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $19,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. now owns 18,667 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AAPL traded down $2.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $196.26. 67,172,446 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,184,954. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average price is $210.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors 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.