Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,284,655 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 131,204 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.4% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Apple worth $1,592,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Apple Stock Down 2.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $209.68 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The business’s 50-day moving average is $187.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.06.

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.