Buckhead Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Buckhead Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 2.1%, owning 56,817 shares after selling 1,211 shares, making it the firm's largest position valued at $12.6 million.
• Insider selling was also noted, with SVP Deirdre O'brien offloading 34,821 shares at an average price of $223.20 each, resulting in a significant decrease in her holdings.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook on Apple, with Evergreen ISI and JPMorgan raising their price targets to $250 and $255 respectively, while the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy."

Buckhead Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,817 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,211 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.0% of Buckhead Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Buckhead Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $12,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted 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, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $3.28 on Tuesday, hitting $228.86. 20,054,462 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,619,484. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $216.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.63. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.