Kanawha Capital Management LLC Has $64.54 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 335,217 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,270 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.9% of Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $64,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $182.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Apple

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.