Clarius Group LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Clarius Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 133,424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,274 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.3% of Clarius Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Four 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $235.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $238.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.93. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.