Poplar Forest Capital LLC Has $1.83 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,550 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20.0% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after purchasing an additional 435,891 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares in the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.86.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total transaction of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $177.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $186.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.09. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Apple Company 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.