Driehaus Capital Management LLC Has $3.42 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 38.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,662 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,628 shares during the quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $2.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $195.64. 38,432,354 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,632,716. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $202.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.66. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other 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 $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.