Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,676 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 7.2% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $220.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

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.