Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Kanawha Capital Management LLC

Kanawha Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 335,217 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,270 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.9% of Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $64,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management raised its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation raised its position in Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $182.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $172.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.78. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.