Kooman & Associates Sells 108 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kooman & Associates decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 0.7% of Kooman & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Kooman & Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $2,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.83. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.63.

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.