Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,629 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,484 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

AAPL stock opened at $211.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $206.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.67.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple Company 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.