Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. Sells 5,391 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 41.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,694 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,391 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.4% of Thompson Davis & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 75.4% in the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its stake in Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Align Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $171.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $165.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.11. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $176.39. 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 market cap of $2.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $7,215,515.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,569,202.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $7,215,515.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,569,202.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple 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 completion of 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $174.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

About Apple

(Get Rating)

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.