Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,190 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.6% of JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 76,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,111,000 after purchasing an additional 23,588 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.9% during the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $114,951,000 after acquiring an additional 25,585 shares during the last quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 91,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its position in Apple by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 7,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 118,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,049,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $245.83 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.