Chatham Capital Group Inc. Has $18.04 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Chatham Capital Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 604 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.