Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,555 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.1% of Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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 directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.25.

Apple Stock Up 5.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $205.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in 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 shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.