Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Sells 2,067 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,172 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,067 shares during the quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE's holdings in Apple were worth $4,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $4.2250 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $226.3350. 21,412,486 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,531,371. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

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.