Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Cut by DDD Partners LLC

DDD Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 164,623 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,383 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.1% of DDD Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. DDD Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.69. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.92 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.00.

Apple 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.