Columbus Macro LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Columbus Macro LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,269 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,016 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $214.91. 14,460,362 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,633,410. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.18. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.