Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC Has $33.75 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,243 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 861 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.1% of Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% during the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $228.20 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.41 and a 200-day moving average of $199.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.