Ashford Capital Management Inc. Sells 350 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ashford Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,031 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $4,782,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Cfra upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $225.89 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.