Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,569 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 9.7% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI's holdings in Apple were worth $86,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 73,093,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,477,308. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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, 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase 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 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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

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.