Kooman & Associates Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kooman & Associates lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.7% of Kooman & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Kooman & Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $2,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $213.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $212.98 and its 200-day moving average is $228.83. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.63.

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.