Cavalier Investments LLC Sells 24,375 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cavalier Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 88.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,249 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 24,375 shares during the quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $198.92. 49,654,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,219,123. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.33. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business 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 was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America cut 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. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.