Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Group LLC

Howard Capital Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 427,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,772 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.4% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $95,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

AAPL stock opened at $210.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $204.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.