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

Kercheville Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,204 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,089 shares during the period. Apple makes up 7.8% of Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after purchasing an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Apple by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. DA Davidson started coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

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.