Choreo LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 911,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 31,655 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.1% of Choreo LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Choreo LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $248,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Overbrook Management Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $101,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,446 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Apple by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management raised its holdings in Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 734,485 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $187,022,000 after acquiring an additional 27,445 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price target (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $304.31.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
Key Stories Impacting Apple
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Apple Stock Performance
Apple stock opened at $280.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $260.73 and a 200-day moving average of $265.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.25 and a 1-year high of $288.62.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 161.46%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.15%.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
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