Consolidated Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Consolidated Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,174 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,012 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.6% of Consolidated Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Consolidated Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $11,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.16 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $213.09 and a 200 day moving average of $212.81. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.98.

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.

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