Covey Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Covey Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,187 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.9% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its position in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $283.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $283.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

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.