Northstar Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,601 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,892 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.1% of Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Northstar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $23,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.88.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $209.28. 38,183,408 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,813,393. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.31. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.11 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.