Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Central Valley Advisors LLC

Central Valley Advisors LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,202 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,489 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.1% of Central Valley Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.39 and a 200-day moving average of $217.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.27.

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.