Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Cut by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 919,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,372 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 7.9% of KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $230,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $199.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Profile

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.