Hoertkorn Richard Charles Sells 6,756 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hoertkorn Richard Charles lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,273 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,756 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 12.0% of Hoertkorn Richard Charles' holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Hoertkorn Richard Charles' holdings in Apple were worth $29,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $1.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $202.67. 54,532,748 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,050,913. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.77.

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

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

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.