Check Capital Management Inc. CA Sells 1,808 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Check Capital Management Inc. CA decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,582 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,808 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.2% of Check Capital Management Inc. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Check Capital Management Inc. CA’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $223.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $241.07 and its 200-day moving average is $230.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.14.

Apple Company 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.