Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Cut by Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC

Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.5% of Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $5,398,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its position in Apple by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 109,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,309,000 after buying an additional 6,211 shares during the last quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,528,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,633,655,000. Finally, Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $3,460,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.58 on Thursday. 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 $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board 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.