Childress Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,912 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Childress Capital Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 3.7%, now owning 50,190 shares, which makes Apple their 6th largest position at approximately 3.2% of their investment portfolio.
• Apple reported a quarterly EPS of $1.65, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.62, and had a revenue of $95.36 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 5.1%.
• The company's Board of Directors has authorized a significant $100 billion share repurchase plan, allowing Apple to buy back up to 3.1% of its shares if deemed undervalued.

Childress Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,912 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Childress Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Childress Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 6,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Envision Financial LLC grew its stake in Apple by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Envision Financial LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Apple by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 66,685 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,813,000 after acquiring an additional 6,812 shares in the last quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,925 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,758,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Apple by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 62,844 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,960,000 after acquiring an additional 10,736 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital dropped 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $5.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $202.38. The company had a trading volume of 97,423,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.60. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 172.48%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.