Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Trimmed by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,103 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.4% of West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $241.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $239.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.58. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.