Nelson Capital Management LLC Sells 19,997 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nelson Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 19,997 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.8% of Nelson Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,097,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,915 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230,300 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 48,826,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,525,555,000 after acquiring an additional 424,839 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,737,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,526,687,000 after buying an additional 245,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $172.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.17 and a 12-month high of $176.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total transaction of $12,926,181.87. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,363,335.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.29.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.