Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 61,279 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 319,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 61,279 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Apple by 20.0% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 9.2% in the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total value of $12,926,181.87. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,363,335.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $174.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.87. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $176.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp upped their price target on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

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.