Keeler Thomas Management LLC Sells 1,416 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Keeler Thomas Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,481 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,416 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.7% of Keeler Thomas Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Keeler Thomas Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $198.92. The stock had a trading volume of 49,654,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,219,123. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.