Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by CCM Investment Advisers LLC

CCM Investment Advisers LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,612 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.4% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $210.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $204.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.41. The company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.