Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. Sells 1,334 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 108,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,334 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 12.0% of Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 103,769 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,986,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 178,954 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $41,947,000 after buying an additional 23,389 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,394 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,870,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 6,573 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after buying an additional 942 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.26.

Apple Stock Down 7.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.96. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 predict 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is 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.