Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Reduced by Chicago Capital LLC

Chicago Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 467,876 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 63,877 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.9% of Chicago Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Chicago Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $103,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV now owns 48,996 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,883,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 48,615 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the first quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,767 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,309,000. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 11.9% in the first quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 30,002 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.94.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $213.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,805,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,464,392. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $204.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.58. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.