Oldfather Financial Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Oldfather Financial Services LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,183 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of Oldfather Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Oldfather Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in Apple by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 184,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,961,000 after acquiring an additional 17,336 shares in the last quarter. Sonnipe Ltd purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Herbst Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 29,318 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,809,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY grew its holdings in Apple by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 12,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 44,396 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,768,000 after buying an additional 4,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Fundamental Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.29.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $172.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.99. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $176.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.30%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.