Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lowered by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Childress Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,417 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.2% of Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Goldstein Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,167,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 380,138 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,391,000 after purchasing an additional 7,733 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 103,257 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 37,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,872,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,329,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,483.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,483.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total value of $12,926,181.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,363,335.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $175.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $176.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.74.

About Apple

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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.