Paragon Capital Management LLC Has $19.51 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Paragon Capital Management LLC has cut its stake in Apple Inc. by 3.4%, making it the fund's largest holding at approximately 11.2% of its portfolio, worth about $19.5 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their holdings in Apple, with notable increases from First National Bank of Hutchinson (up 24.6%) and Brighton Jones LLC (up 14.8%).
• Analysts have raised price targets for Apple, with Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase setting targets at $245.00 and $255.00, respectively, while the consensus price target is $237.37.

Paragon Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,833 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,097 shares during the period. Apple makes up 11.2% of Paragon Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Paragon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $19,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded up $7.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $237.02. The stock had a trading volume of 40,885,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,657,605. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.