Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,247 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,121 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.4% of Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $5,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goodman Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $2,609,000. Truepoint Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 18,069 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,525,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $877,000. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,679 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,177,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DCF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $199.01. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $203.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.02. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one 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.
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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered 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. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% 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 worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Apple Profile
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Free Report)
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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