Columbus Macro LLC Sells 471 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Columbus Macro LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,753 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 471 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $192.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, 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 directly 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 available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 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.