Little House Capital LLC Sells 7,416 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Little House Capital LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,485 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,416 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.9% of Little House Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 35,926,849 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,980,431,000 after purchasing an additional 118,741 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 6,476 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Cambridge Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 40,656 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 128,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Finally, Smart Portfolios LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Smart Portfolios LLC now owns 10,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $229.65 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $207.88 and its 200 day moving average is $213.21. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.