Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Has $273.88 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,093,679 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 56,278 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 8.6% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $273,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. The company had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $201.76 and its 200 day moving average is $223.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

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.