Lmcg Investments LLC Sells 18,425 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lmcg Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,916 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 18,425 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.9% of Lmcg Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Lmcg Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $59,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111,858 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 125,604 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $31,454,000 after buying an additional 5,631 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $212.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.16 and a 200 day moving average of $219.40. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.95.

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.

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