GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• GHP Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.2%, now holding 163,025 shares worth approximately $36.2 million.
• Apple reported $1.57 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple’s stock, with notable increases from Vanguard and UBS Asset Management during the fourth quarter.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 163,025 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,678 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.7% of GHP Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $36,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $140,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $204.14. The company had a trading volume of 7,744,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,777,820. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $205.53 and its 200-day moving average is $213.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.25.

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.