Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Chelsea Counsel Co.

Chelsea Counsel Co. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,662 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,521 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 12.2% of Chelsea Counsel Co.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Chelsea Counsel Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. KMT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $409,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $23,233,000. XY Planning Network Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,096,000. HWG Holdings LP increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 92,119 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,068,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

AAPL stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.71. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.