Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 34.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,742 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 2.6% in the third quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 240,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $41,125,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE raised its holdings in Apple by 77.1% in the third quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 1,890 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Management LLC now owns 78,679 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 135.7% in the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $214.29 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $186.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.57.

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. 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. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.06.

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.