Patten & Patten Inc. TN lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 740,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 12,786 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 12.3% of Patten & Patten Inc. TN's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Patten & Patten Inc. TN's holdings in Apple were worth $185,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,566,054,000 after buying an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Apple Trading Down 0.2%
AAPL stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.95. The company had a trading volume of 51,367,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,221,859. The business has a 50-day moving average of $203.59 and a 200-day moving average of $225.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.74, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
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