Paragon Capital Management Ltd Sells 1,168 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,168 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.7% of Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.29.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.25 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.