Long Road Investment Counsel LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Long Road Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.4% of Long Road Investment Counsel LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $8,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $203.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.