Alta Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Alta Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 23.5%, owning 358,203 shares, making Apple its 3rd largest position at approximately $79.57 million.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus for Apple, with an average price target of $234.94 and several firms boosting price objectives recently.
• Apple approved a stock repurchase plan worth $100 billion and recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.26, reflecting confidence in its financial health.

Alta Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 358,203 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 109,736 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.2% of Alta Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Alta Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $79,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.94.

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $208.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,029,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,191,012. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.16. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple 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.