Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Monument Capital Management’s 3rd Largest Position

Monument Capital Management lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 715 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.3% of Monument Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 increased its position in Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,045,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.78 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.37. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.