Hutchinson Capital Management CA decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,315 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,246 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.8% of Hutchinson Capital Management CA's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Hutchinson Capital Management CA's holdings in Apple were worth $30,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Trading Up 2.5%
NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.94 on Tuesday, hitting $200.21. 55,838,867 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,255,357. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company's 50-day moving average price is $204.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.71.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Report on Apple
Apple Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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