McCollum Christoferson Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

McCollum Christoferson Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,587 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,112 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.7% of McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $229.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.25 and a 200-day moving average of $205.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.