Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Columbus Macro LLC

Columbus Macro LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,016 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $211.18 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.