Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s Largest Position

McCollum Christoferson Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,389 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,645 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.5% of McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Architects Inc lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Architects Inc now owns 170,937 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,210,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 71,911 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,343,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $235,000. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 105,023 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,646,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in Apple by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 83,249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,817,000 after buying an additional 24,127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Raymond James lowered their price target 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. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.74.

Apple Trading Up 0.7 %

AAPL opened at $172.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.17 and a 12-month high of $176.39.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were 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 owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,363,335.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.