PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. Sells 84 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,331 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.0% of PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group set a $270.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued 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 price target of $244.85.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $240.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.72.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.