Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 446,915 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,463,653 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 446,915 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.3% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Apple worth $1,099,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,097,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,915 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Apple by 13.1% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after purchasing an additional 8,230,300 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,874,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,779,544,000 after purchasing an additional 698,686 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 48,826,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,525,555,000 after purchasing an additional 424,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on Apple from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $125.00 price target on Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.74.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $7,215,515.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at $22,569,202.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $175.16 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $176.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.30%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Profile

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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.